Stranded in a Twisted RPG
by cXmysin
Summary: Konata and co. get to test out a new game! And, through some mumbo-jumbo, they get stuck! Can they get out or remain in the RPG world forever? Crossovers with a hint of girl love.
1. Title Screen Introduction

Disclaimer/s:

-Lucky Star is not mine.

-Any anime/manga/video game/book that I will mention here do not belong to me.

-Fight Pan is a fictional game corporation that I made up and is not related to any gaming company.

* * *

Stranded in a Twisted RPG

Chapter 1: Title Screen Introduction

"Remind me again why we're here?" Kagami muttered as she crossed her arms. It was a weekend, and exams were next week. She was studying when Konata barged in and dragged them here, to a very tall building.

"I told you, Kagamin. I received an invite to test a game at Fight Pan." Konata explained as she adjusted her cap.

"What's a Fight Pan?" Misao asked.

"Is it some sort of utensil?" Tsukasa tilted her head.

"No, Tsukasa that's a frying pan." Miyuki relpied.

"One more question." Kagami raised her hand again.

"Hm?" Konata turned to the purple-haired girl.

"Why the hell did you bring all of us?!" Kagami pointed to herself, Tsukasa, Miyuki, Yutaka, Minami, Hiyori, Patty, Misao and Ayano.

"That's because I was allowed to bring nine of us, since Fight Pan is a new company and they're short on testers."

"Why would they pick you? You're just a high school girl!"

"I don't know. Maybe because of my legendary skills? Or maybe it was a contest I had forgotten about?" Konata shrugged as Kagami slapped her forehead.

"Minami-chan, we're going to play a new game no one has heard about! I'm getting excited!" Yutaka turned to the green-haired girl, whose expression was blank.

Minami nodded. "Yes. Let's do our best."

"Hehehe…I wonder…what _kind_ of game?" Hiyori snickered.

"This is lucky, right Hiyorin? We might trigger some flags while we're here." Patty said cheerfully.

"Yeah…maybe I'll get to draw more of Minami and Yutaka….hehehe…or maybe the sempais will try and make a new pairing?" Hiyori said as she grinned evilly, her glasses glowing while her grip on her trusty sketchpad tightened.

Patty only pouted as her cheeks turned a little red. "That's not what I meant…"

"Hm, I wonder if this game is as fun as that racing game?" Misao said as she put her hands in her pockets. She then turned to the orange-haired girl beside her. "By the way Ayano, what games do you play? I don't see any consoles in your house."

"I haven't played any games before but hopefully I can manage this one." Ayano replied as she scratched her cheek.

"I'll help you then." Misao grinned as Konata snickered behind her.

"Looks like there's gonna be an event here…Say, why don't we join in Kagamin?"

"Oi, don't you dare involve them in your fantasies."

"Ooh, Kagami's trying to protect them…Hm, don't tell me Kagami has a crush on one of them?" Konata joked as she slowly stepped back.

"I do not!!"

"Hmm…maybe it's Minegishi-san? I have to admit, she looks good. Right Hiyorin?" Konata turned to the dark-haired girl, who had heard Konata's previous statements.

Hiyori looked at the orange-haired girl for a moment before nodding. "Hmm…Minegishi-sempai does look good. Though I think she could do without the headband."

"Oh, so that's why Kagamin can't take her eyes off her." The blue-haired girl poked Kagami's shoulder as the purple-haired girl tried to contain her anger.

"Ah, that's a nice idea! Minegishi-sempai has a boyfriend, yes?" Hiyori said as an idea for a story popped in her head.

Konata nodded, making Hiyori's glasses glow once more.

"Yes, that has to be it. They have nothing more than a classmate relationship, but the girl tries her best to protect the other who has a boyfriend. Then after a heated little visit she will--"

Patty, sensing that a certain sudere will threaten their lives the moment Hiyori finishes her story, cut off Hiyori's narration as she pulled the other girl by the collar. "W-we'll be going on ahead, Konata!"

"Patty's really straightforward. I admire her boldness." Konata smiled as she saw that the blonde was blushing when the two entered the building.

Kagami said nothing as she loosened up a bit.

"Hm, come to think of it, you didn't blush when I was teasing you with Minegishi-san." Konata tapped her chin. "Hmm…so that means the one you like is….Misao?"

The purple-haired girl frowned as her anger increased tenfold. Konata sensed this as she then ran towards the building's entrance.

"KONATA! GET BACK HERE!"

"Hiiragi's gone in." Misao pointed out as she saw the couple disappear behind the doors.

"Shall we, Misa-chan?" Ayano asked, earning a nod from the other girl as they proceeded to the door.

"Yutaka, it's best if we don't get left behind. Let's go." Minami shyly grabbed Yutaka's hand as she blushed.

"Y-yes." Yutaka said as she followed the other girl, not knowing that she too was blushing.

"Ah!! We're the only ones left outside!" Tsukasa noticed as she halted her conversation with Miyuki. "Let's go Yuki-chan! Oneechan and the others must be waiting for us."

--

"YOU LITTLE--" Kagami stopped herself as several of the workers looked at her. She blushed as she made her way to the blue-haired girl and lightly bopped Konata's head. "Idiot."

Konata chuckled. "Sorry Kagamin, it's pretty hard not to tease you. Your reactions are funny, not to mention cute."

Kagami said nothing as she blushed. The blue-haired girl grinned at the sight. Konata then noticed Miyuki and Tsukasa enter the building, making their way towards them. "Time to get started."

The girls went to the front desk as Konata rang the bell on the right side, causing a blond woman with glasses to come out of the room. "Do you have an app--Ah!"

The woman tripped, causing a few of the girls to snicker.

"Nice situation." Patty said as she gave a thumbs-up.

"So that's how the body position is after tripping." Hiyori nodded, mentally noting the position of the limbs.

"It's a good thing she was wearing pants or that would've been hell of a lot more embarrassing." Misao pointed out, grinning.

"Now, Misa-chan, that's not very nice." Ayano scolded.

"Ow, ow…Stupid cable…" The woman rubbed herhead, turning to the new arrivals. Konata raised her hand as if to wave. The blonde's eyes widened. "Oh! Legendary Girl A-sama! We've been expecting you. I see you've brought your friends."

Konata wiggled her eyebrows. "See Kagamin? I told you it was my legendary skills."

The woman approached them as she smiled. "My name is Sei. Please follow me to the conference room."

Konata nodded as Sei led her and her friends to a large lobby, with doors on both sides. They stopped at one on the left side. "The company president would like to speak with you before we start testing."

Sei opened the door, and revealed someone who shocked three of the girls.

"Hi-Hikaru-sensei?!"

Kagami was glued to the floor, Misao's jaw dropped, and Ayano was so shocked she almost fainted.

Class 3-C's teacher raised her eyebrows as her red eyes went wide. "Kusakabe, Hiiragi and Minegishi? Ah, and some of Nanako's students? What are you girls doing here?"

"They're here for the game testing Hikaru-san." Sei bowed.

"Oh. So they're the ones my cousin invited for today." Hikaru nodded. "Wait here. I'll call her."

Their teacher went out the door opposite the room. The girls heard some steps and then saw Hikaru enter the room once more, only with another woman who looked exactly like her but with brown hair. "This is the company's president: Sakuraba Satomi."

Satomi pushed up her glasses. "Legendary Girl A and company I presume? Please take your seats at the table."

Konata nodded. Everyone took their respective seats, sinking in the soft, comfortable chairs while Kagami mumbled. "Don't call us 'and company'…"

"I invited you girls here so that you can test the new online game that we've been working on. Hikaru would have invited Nanako-san to test this in your stead but it seems that she has other affairs. It's just a matter of luck that Legendary Girl A was her pupil, so we easily got the contacts."

Nine of the girls stood in awe while Kagami sweat-dropped. "Isn't that sort of like stalking?"

"Anyways, let me brief you on the game platform." Satomi looked at Sei as the blonde nodded. Sei pulled out what looked like a helmet, with a pair of gloves to match. "This here is the VRE. Would anyone care to volunteer?"

Yutaka uneasily raised her hand. "Can I…?"

Sei smiled. "Good. Come here and I'll help you put this on."

Yutaka approached Sei and put on the helmet. She laughed a little. "It's a little dark…"

Sei then put the gloves on Yutaka's hands and adjusted the straps. "You're all set. Sha-chou (company head)?"

Satomi nodded and pointed to the screen opposite her. "Everyone please look there."

The girls did what they were told as the screen lit up. "Hey, it's Yu-chan!"

The screen displayed what looked like a real-life version of Yutaka. And on the upper-left side there were some gauges.

"Those are the HP, MP, and EXP bars. Since the game is that of an RPG type, it's only natural to have those." Hikaru explained. "Kobayakawa, was it? I've heard a lot about you from Fuyuki, the school nurse. Please try to move around by focusing your thoughts."

Yutaka nodded as she did what she was told to do. The girl was surprised at how easy it was. "Wow!"

"Your movements and actions are controlled by your thoughts. There's a small mike on the side of the helmet's interior, so you can speak. Ok, now try and pick up that item over there." The red-eyed teacher said as a little sword popped up a few steps ahead of Yutaka.

"Okay." Yutaka walked over and picked up the sword.

"Now, let's try fighting. Would that be alright?"

The Yutaka on the screen and the real Yutaka both gulped. "O-Okay."

"Don't worry; we won't be threatening you with boss monsters until you've properly formed a party. And you have infinite lives here, so dying isn't a problem."

A little blue blob popped out of nowhere and purred its version of a roar.

"Aww, how cute!" Patty smiled at the sight.

"Ah, a level 1 monster." Hiyori nodded.

"Kinda reminds me of gelatin." Misao rubbed her stomach.

"Go Yu-chan! Kick its semi-liquid butt!" Konata cheered.

"All right. Try to defeat that thing Kobayakawa."

"Y-yes." Yutaka hit the blob with the sword, making a little number 6 appear above the monster's head. And with that, the blob proceeded with its own counterattack.

Making two '12''s appear above Yutaka's head.

"Wow. That blob's got spunk!"

"Kobayakawa is at level 1. You will all start out with 100 HP each, and depending on the job class and your stats, that will eventually increase. Kobayakawa, let the little thing attack you until you're HP is below 50."

Minami almost stood up but Konata grabbed her arm. "Don't worry, she'll be alright. Yu-chan's my cousin after all."

Minami only nodded and sat back down, her blue eyes watching the screen with an intense gaze.

"It's getting hard to move…" Yutaka said, her HP around 45.

"Yes, you can fight normally until half of your HP is left. You'll get weaker as it goes below that." Hikaru nodded, and the blob then disappeared. "Kobayakawa's HP is currently at 20. You can't fight when only 1/5 of your HP is left. Thus you will assume this position." The teacher then pointed to Yutaka, who was sitting as little number 1's popped out above her head. "You can regain stamina as time passes, depending on your recovery rate. Now, let's try fighting that monster again."

The blob appeared once more as Yutaka's HP went back to 100. "Now let's try a few spells. Spells are only available for spell-casters, summoners and the like but it is important that we show you how. Kobayakawa, mentally say spell."

Yutaka gulped. 'Spell.'

A little menu appeared on Yutaka's left side. "Now, choose any spell you like, as long as you say it in your head."

Yutaka nodded. 'Um…how about…Thunder.'

A little lightning bolt struck the blob, making a giant 64 appear above its head. It then disintegrated as the experience bar rose a little. "You can acquire experience judging the monster's level, your level, and how you defeated it. Normal attacks do fine but you can gain more experience by using your jobs ability or spells. Now try thinking 'item'."

The item menu appeared and Yutaka selected a lollipop. "You can access most of the menus and items by thinking of them. Such as 'item', 'weapon', 'equip', 'spell' and other commands. Kobayakawa, think 'escape'."

Yutaka did what she was told and the screen was turned off. "That command will allow you to leave the game. Kobayakawa, you can take off the helmet and gloves now."

Yutaka took of the helmet and smiled. "That was really cool! I can't believe we're going to test a game like this!"

"We're glad that you are happy with it." Satomi said. "Now, are you all ready to play? The realm is a little bit different from the demonstration area, so please be prepared to have the time of your lives. Please follow Sei to the testing room."

"Aww, we won't test it here?" Konata frowned a little, not wanting to move from the soft haven that was the chair.

Hikaru smiled. "The chairs in the testing room are much more comfortable than these chairs, since they're designed to keep the person relaxed while they're playing."

Konata then stood up. "What the hell are we waiting for?! Let's go!"

Sei nodded as she, once again, led the girls to the large lobby.

* * *

Chatroom LS

--start--

Konata: Hello! Welcome to the chatroom! Here we will be able to relay chewy bits of info to you regarding what will happen the next chapter!

Kagami: Wait…Isn't chat-type format not allowed?

Misao: Geez, Hiiragi. This story is about an online game! How can we not have chat? Bsesides, we'll be using chat once we're in the game. So why not start now?!

Kagami: I just hope there won't be any lol's and XD's here. It's annoying.

Konata: Hopefully we'll be too busy to do that. Since we'll be busy with--

Konata:….

Misao:...?

Konata: Tsukasa, press Enter.

Tsukasa: Ah. I guess I forgot again…

Kagami: No wonder you haven't said anything all this time.

Misao: I was wondering why there were only three of us, seeing that there should be at least four of us who'll introduce the next chapter.

Konata: Anyways, I said we'll be busy next chapter. Choosing jobs and such.

Tsukasa: I wonder which job I'll get?

Misao: Hopefully mine won't be something technical…those things bore me.

Konata: Kagamin's probably going to get something brutal.

Kagami: Shut up.

Konata: Oh, right. And Misao will be going through great pain next chapter, in more ways than one.

Misao: EH? Crap. Don't tell me I'm gonna die in this one?

Kagami: Konata, stop giving out spoilers.

Konata: Oh, and next chapter we'll be registering our usernames! Should I go with the usual or should I think of something else?

Kagami: I said stop giving out spoilers. Tsukasa, give out the title before Konata gives out the whole second chapter.

Tsukasa: OK. Next chapter: Welcome to the Server.

Misao: Hey, no one's answered my question! Am I going to--

--cut--


	2. Welcome to the Server

Disclaimer/s:

-Lucky Star is not mine.

-Any anime/manga/video game/book that I will mention here does not belong to me.

-Fight Pan is a fictional game corporation that I made up and is not related to any gaming company.

\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

Stranded in a Twisted RPG

Chapter 2: Welcome to the Server

"Well, this is it. This is where you girls will be testing the game." Sei smiled. "I hope you'll enjoy playing."

"We will." Konata nodded. Sei then opened the door. One by one the girls entered the air conditioned room, already seeing a table with the helmets and gloves as well as five pairs of chairs that looked like they should be called beds instead of chairs.

Ayano put a hand in her pocket as she felt her phone vibrate. "Excuse me for a moment. I have to take this call."

The orange-haired girl went out of the room as eight of the girls proceeded to sit in their chairs. Misao watched the door silently close, and stayed in her spot long after her childhood friend had left the room.

"Hey, Misao." Kagami got up from her seat and tapped the girl who seemed to be frozen in time.

Misao blinked. "Huh? Wha?"

"Sei was going to explain something to us before we start playing. So how about snapping out of it and sit down?" Kagami said, pulling the other girl towards the table.

Misao took the seat beside Tsukasa's right and Kagami sat by her sister's left.

"So, you excited Kagamin?" Konata, who was on Kagami's left, asked.

"Not really. I'm not like you who look like they're charged with electricity when they hear something about a new release or a new game." The purple-haired tsundere shrugged.

"That's true… But look at Yu-chan. She's not like me but she seems pretty wound up." Konata pointed to the girl opposite Tsukasa, who was talking with Minami, Patty and Hiyori.

"Well, she looked like she had fun when Hikaru-sensei let her try the gear." The purple-haired girl said, pointing to the helmet and gloves in front of her.

The door creaked open, and Ayano took the only empty seat beside Misao. "Him again?"

Ayano smiled. "Yeah."

Sei then clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Now that everyone's here, please put on your VRE's."

The room was filled with silence as the girls started to adjust the gloves and helmets to their proper settings. Once everyone had turned on their VRE, Sei grabbed a mike and a hand-held screen that revealed the 10 girls that were in the game.

=-=

"Wow." Was the first word most of them said, looking at the vast expanse of the realm they were in.

"It's like we're in space…" Miyuki said, looking up and down as she found different little star-like dots.

"Wow, how…realistic." Yutaka said as she wiggled her fingers. It looked and felt as if they had never left the real world, though she had never been to outer space before. "Look Minami-chan! We're even in the same clothes!"

"Yes, but I assume we'll have a change of clothing once we actually get into the game…" Minami said as she looked around.

"Eh? We're not in the game yet?" Yutaka followed Minami's gaze, but could find nothing to help her understand what the green-haired girl said. "Where is this place then?"

"I assume this place would be somewhat like a narrow lobby before you enter the actual room…" The green-haired girl answered as she saw that they were all in one big endless space.

"Ah, I see. You're really smart Minami-chan!" Yutaka said happily as pink colored her cheeks.

"Err…Thank you."

Hiyori was watching the scene as she held her nose. "Wow. I didn't figure I'd get a nosebleed even in a place like this…"

Patty noticed the other girl. "Eh? Your nose is bleeding?"

"W-well, you know how I get when I see those two. My brain gets swamped with ideas and my perversity goes up."

_If the shy and sensitive style won't work…I'll have to do the direct approach! _Patty tsk-tsked as she removed the other girl's hand from her nose. "Well, there isn't much blood, but…maybe I can kiss it better?"

The young artist then looked at the blonde and turned bright red. "e-eEH? U-Um Jus- h-ho-d o a s-s-s-c-d, I-I--"

Everyone then jumped and halted their own conversations when they heard Sei's voice. "All right everyone. As you all know, this is sort of Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, thus you need to pick usernames."

"Saved by the secretary." Hiyori sighed in relief as she saw Patty turned around.

Sei continued as a little computer appeared with a 'poof'. "Please input your usernames here. Passwords won't be necessary since the VRE can identify you via retro-scan and fingerprint scan."

Tsukasa nodded. "So that's why there was a helmet and gloves."

"Please form a line. The screen over there will display your usernames. Oh, and please don't write your name as your username, so that your personal information can be protected."

They formed a line towards the computer, with Konata first, Kagami second, then Tsukasa, Miyuki, Patty, Misao, Minami, Yutaka, Ayano and Hiyori.

Konata tapped her chin for a moment as she thought in front of the computer. She then shrugged. "I guess I'll use my old username. It won't affect my job, will it Sei-san?"

"No."

Konata nodded and began typing. Kagami watched the girl as she thought about her own username. _First names aren't allowed huh? Then I guess I'll go with something with guns and since I'm a member of the student council..._

Then, all of a sudden, some sort of fireworks erupted from the computer and formed something above.

It was a picture of Konata, and beside it was the username: **Konakona**.

Ooh's and Ahh's filled the space they were in as Kagami watched in awe before she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Tsukasa? What is it?"

"Um…Oneechan? Sei-san did say that we can't use our real names right?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Kagami turned her head towards her sister, who looked a little embarrassed.

"I was wondering…if you could help me decide on a username?" Tsukasa said sheepishly.

"Alright. Just tell me the first thing that pops in your head." The purple-haired tsundere replied, not noticing that it was her turn to enter her own username and Konata was still fiddling with the computer.

"Balsamic Vinegar?" Tsukasa mumbled.

Kagami sighed. "You've been addicted to that stuff ever since you saw it on TV…fine…just think of a way on how to combine those two words and use that as your username. Which reminds me, it's my tur--"

The purple-haired girl was cut off by the computer emitting the fireworks once more; only it was a picture of Kagami with the word: **Sniperiincho**.

"Your turn Tsukasa." Konata said as she got away from the computer, her face content with her w-shaped grin.

"WHAT THE? You entered a username for me?!" Kagami said, angry and shocked.

"Well, you were taking a little too long with the conversation so I decided on one for you; it's pretty easy to remember, right?" Konata rubbed the back of her head.

"Idiot." Kagami said as she tried to bop the other girl's head.

"Now, now Kagamin, can't you at least try to thank me with something other than a bop on the head? I mean, you were thinking of something along those lines, right?" The blue-haired girl said as she dodged the other girl's blows.

"Sh-Shut up!"

"Aha! You're blushing Kagamin! That means--"

Their conversation halted when the computer showed them Tsukasa's username: **Balvine**.

"She really loves that stuff, huh?" Konata said, earning a nod from the purple-haired girl as her short-haired twin approached them.

The three then watched as the others entered their usernames. Miyuki, much to Tsukasa's surprise, typed in **Haiphobe**.

"Yuki-chan, what does your username mean?" Tsukasa tilted her head as the pink-haired girl joined the group.

Miyuki pushed up her glasses as she explained. "Well, all I've been thinking about was my visit to the dentist yesterday and how scary it was…So I combined hai, from haisha or dentist, and phobe, from phobia."

"As expected of Miyuki-san!" Konata said cheerfully.

"…and what exactly do you expect?" Kagami mumbled, but it went unnoticed as two girls immediately joined the little cluster.

"Ah, **Cosprei **and **Carnibuor**." Konata, who had seen the last two blasts, greeted Patty and Misao. They then proceeded to explain, since they knew Tsukasa would ask.

"Well, you know how I like cosplay. Cosupurei or Cosprei for short!" Patty said triumphantly as she crossed her arms.

"MEAT balls. Who better to eat meat than a carnivore, or should I say carnibuor?" Misao grinned. "I would've gone with three-second rule but that's too hard to remember…"

Another blast from the computer. **Southeagle**.

"Ah, Minami's gone for the usual. Her name, Minami, means South, if my Japanese is correct?" Patty turned to the group who nodded. She then put a hand on her chin. "Though I don't have an idea on where she got the eagle from…"

"Hmm…Maybe Yu-chan's told her about that little animal discussion we had a few weeks ago?" Konata said. She then smiled a little as she saw another blast. "And it seems Yu-chan did the same too."

"Hello, small squirrel!" Patty greeted Minami and Yutaka(**Chibirisu**)as the red-haired girl blushed at the translation.

Accidentally, everyone looked up and saw the ninth blast. **Sugarette**.

Ayano approached the stunned group, and then smiled as she explained. "Well, I saw Misa-chan playing this game a few weeks ago, and I thought the name was cute."

"Who knew you played that game?" Konata looked at the brunette, who simply scratched her cheek.

"Well, I'm still trying to weapon break Ari2l and Mari2l…" Misao sheepishly smiled.

"I'm guessing you probably picked Pr2tty?"

"Err, I'm a girl, so why the hell should I pick the boy character?" Misao tilted her head.

"Right…" Konata nodded as she whispered to Patty. "Let's just hope she didn't do it just to see the interaction."

Patty, who had finished the game and its sequels lots of times, nodded. She then noticed who was typing on the computer. "Let's see Hiyorin's username!"

The nine of them waited as they watched the dark-haired girl tap her chin and mumble to herself. She then snapped her fingers as she typed ferociously on the keyboard, making the computer emit fireworks for the last time.

"Bara…" Minami muttered.

"…shoujo?" Yutaka said. "Rose girl? I don't get it…"

Konata and Patty nodded, completely understanding what Hiyori had typed. They then smiled as Hiyori approached them, grinning as she did.

"Nice choice! Not too obvious Hiyorin!" Patty patted the other girl on the shoulder.

"I'm guessing you guys figured out that I didn't _just_ mean 'rose' when I typed bara in **Barashoujo**?" Hiyori's grin grew wider.

Konata nodded as she grinned too. "Anyways, Hiyorin, I'm guessing you took longer than usual since you were deciding on the right username? I'm also guessing that you've considered yaoi and fujoshi, didn't you?"

"Ahehe, you caught me sempai…" Hiyori rubbed the back of her head.

Sei's voice sounded through the space. "Now then, that should be enough time for the helmets to analyze your characters fully. Let's move on to the jobs."

Yutaka raised her eyebrows. "Aren't we supposed to pick one once we got to a town or something?"

"Well…this is one of the unique features of the game. Since the helmet is thought-based, it scans the player's thoughts for the traits he or she would want for a job. This is so that everyone will be satisfied with the little…surprises their job will offer them. Moreover, it will add a little suspense for the beginning of the game. Oh, and the jobs you will get had been based on popular books or series, so that it will be more enjoyable."

Minami, who knew very well that Sei was watching, raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Um, don't mind me asking but…how do we get the job…?"

Sei didn't reply. Instead, ten doors seemed to have risen up from the ground, each a different color and each has a certain girl's name, in hiragana, as well as a chibified version of them.

"This is so gonna get a 5 in effects." Hiyori said as she eyed her purple door.

"Not to mention graphics." Kagami added as she eyed her own.

"Though, I wonder how the system will manage all this? Since this is an online game, many people will be attracted to it…Will they receive the same treatment as we are receiving now?" Miyuki said, eying the cream-colored door that she assumed was hers, since it literally had her name on it.

"As long as they have the helmet they'll be able to."

"Ah. Thank you, Sei-san."

"No problem. Now if you don't have any more questions I'd like to wish you good--"

"HUSHA!! Last one to the realm's a rotten egg!!!" Misao shouted, flinging open her orange door and running in.

"--luck. Oh well, you girls can see me again once you have any questions that cannot be answered by the NPC's we have created."

They waited for a few seconds to see if Sei was gone. Konata then turned to the group. "You girls ready to catch up to Misakichi?"

"We should for her sake. Right, Minegishi?" Kagami replied, then turning to the orange-haired girl.

"Yes. One thing that I've learned watching Misa-chan play her games would be the fact that she has no sense of direction whatsoever, and is easily distracted by the good backgrounds." Ayano nodded as the other girls saw that worry had started forming in her face.

"We'll PM each other the moment job selection is done. Everyone knows my username right?" Konata asked as she took the role of leader. She then continued when she all saw nods. "Also, try to find an ally as soon as possible. For all we know, there could be some strays in the realm we'll land in, and judging the fact that we're still starters in this game, it will be very difficult for us to be able to beat one alone."

Another series of nods and Konata gave her order. "Oh, and remember, we're here to have fun. We're testing an unreleased game for goodness sake!!"

Smiles and grins appeared on everyone's faces as they then headed for their respective doors. Each put a hand on the knob and turned, then took a step inside.

=-=

Sei watched as the girls entered their doors, and she shut off the screen she had used to view the girls.

She smiled as she put the microphone down and stood up. "Time for some coffee."

She then noticed a stack of papers that seemed to contain some data that she can't seem to understand. Sei grabbed the stack, went out of the room, and went to the conference room, finding the company head and her cousin happily chatting.

"Hikaru-san, it seems you forgot to encode something." The blonde handed the papers to the orange-haired teacher, who gaped.

"HOLY CRAP! This is the data for the quest items!!" Hikaru then ran out of the conference room and into the room where the game's main database is located, in other words the room she will be spending the next few hours in.

=-=

Something watched the whole scene play out. It watched as the girls chose their usernames, conversed with each other, observed their surroundings and asked questions. It also knew that some sort of officer from the company was watching them, so it waited it was sure that everyone was gone. It landed silently and adjusted its sunglasses. It then touched its ear, located on the upper part of its head. On the ear was some sort of communication device, and the creature adjusted the mike near its jaw. "Boss? It's me."

It nodded. "Yes, I'll tail them."

"Yes, I know the ones I should…'disqualify'"

It then said with its metallic voice. "No need. I can get there without any help."

The creature pulled out something from its coat and pushed a few buttons.

It then disappeared without a sound, with no one noticing, no one knowing.

=-=Konakona=-=

Konata stepped into what looked like a shop. It had shelves and shelves of books, food, bottles, everything you see on a usual convenience store. However, as she walked on, the items got stranger and more surreal, and Konata's eyes widened a little as she saw something that resembled a time machine. What was even more surprising was the fact that there was no counter, but a vending machine. "Ah. P2ni Pon2."

Konata was not surprised when a striped cat opened the vending machine from the inside, she had already figured from what anime this creature had been based on.

"Kami-sama desu-nya." The cat said as it eyed the girl. "What would you like to buy today?"

_Hmmm…so that's the question huh? _Konata thought to herself as she then replied. "Wait a moment; I'm still viewing your wares."

The cat nodded. "Please take your time."

Konata turned around and walked along the long aisle, scanning any items that may be of use. She then took a small amount of recovery items, armor as well as a few shields. She then went to the weapons section and got a variety of weapons: swords, axes, even a ladle. She also got a few staffs as well as a rim of paper (She had no idea what a rim of paper would be doing in the weapons section but Hiyori might get the itch to draw something while they were here.). She was about to approach the counter when she saw a toolbox as well as a spellbook, and threw them in as well. She then approached the cat/shopkeeper. "These are what I want to purchase."

The cat eyed the pile warily, as if it was some newly discovered creature. It then nodded with delight. "Ah, the balanced type. You'll make a good leader…And…I see you've brought a lot of equipment there, both for attack and defense…and I can see that you've clearly brought over some equipment for your friends too. And judging by these items, it's easy to tell you're quite experienced in the world of combat…"

"Wow." Konata whistled. "Does that cost extra?"

"No, the shop gives free fortune telling to the customers so they can stay longer and might possibly see another item they would like to purchase." The cat explained.

"Ah. Nice strategy." Konata then fiddled with her pockets. "Oh, right! I haven't got any money."

"Don't worry, it's on the house. Just wait a minute." The shopkeeper then took all the items and shut the vending machine. It then returned in about ten seconds, handing Konata her items, all stored in a seemingly small but warm plastic bag that looked like a weeping rabbit.

"It's body temperature." The cat grinned. "Please come again!"

The cat went in the vending machine and closed it. And Konata found the door in the far right corner of the room, behind some boxes of robots.

=-=

Konata landed by the shade of a tree. It was dark, probably because it was night and only a little moonlight was allowed to pass the trees. She looked over a puddle and saw that she was wearing the red armor, the one she had bought because it had resembled her old armor she had used when she was playing with Kuroi-sensei in both looks and defensive capabilities. She yawned and decided to check if anyone else had made it before her. She then found out that she was the first one there and lay down at the bottom of the tree. _I hope Kagamin's doing fine_.

=-=Sniperiincho=-=

"Name?" Kagami came face-to-face with a serious-looking woman with coal eyes and short black hair sitting on a desk. _WTF._ "Wh-What the--"

"I'm asking for your name." The woman pushed up her glasses. "You are applying here aren't you?"

"Ka--" _Oh right, no real names. _"S-Sniperiincho." _I swear, I'll be the first K.O. Konata once I get out of here._

"Body measurements?" The woman said as she scribbled something down on a piece of paper.

"Wh-Wh--WHAT?!" _I THOUGHT THAT WE WOULDN'T BE ASKED ABOUT OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION? _

"Well, you're auditioning for a role in this live-action series, aren't you?" The woman raised an eyebrow, pointing to a nearby poster.

Kagami gaped when she saw that the poster had a very familiar red-haired boy, blonde girl, and a dark-haired girl in pigtails.

"I-I AM NOT!!" Kagami yelled at top of lungs as an image of her in the dark-haired girl's outfit popped in her mind. Konata would not let her forget that so easily.

The woman then nodded. "Oh. I understand. Sorry about that. So you're here your session?"

"Huh?"

"I'm a doctor too, you see. You must be new." She smiled. "Well Sniperiincho, why don't you sit down and we can talk your anger management problem?"

"Anger management?" Kagami's temper rose.

"Yes, it's pretty obvious." She pushed up her glasses. "Now take a seat so you can calm down a little."

Kagami eased up a little as she did what she was told. _Meh, maybe this won't be so bad._

"Now, I want you to remember the one time where you got pissed off the most."

The purple-haired girl shrugged. She then remembered something that happened a long time ago.

_-=-_

_Kagami and Tsukasa were walking towards the school talking their school uniforms when Tsukasa noticed someone. "Hey, it's Kona-chan! Kona-chan! Good morning!" _

_Konata turned around as a bunch of roses literally appeared behind her, and said "My Kagami-san, Tsukasa-san. __Gokigen'yō" _

_Tsukasa smiled as Kagami mentally dropped her jaw. Her jaw then mentally dropped lower as she saw the blue-haired girl approach her sister_

"_My, Tsukasa-san, your bow is crooked…" And fixed her uniform._

"_Gonna hurl" Kagami mumbled as he__r sister said her thanks to the blue-haired girl._

"_What brought this?" Tsukasa tilted her head._

"_I have become hooked on Marimite." Konata said as she chuckled a way that was out of character for her._

_Later…_

_Konata, Tsukasa and Kagami were hanging around the classroom while Tsukasa mentioned something. "Why don't you join a manga club Kona-chan? Since you love manga."_

_Konata considered it for a moment. "Well, I'd be willing to do it…And it'd be a good use of time." The blue haired girl then began to draw. When she was done, she handed it to the twins_

_Who gaped in shock. _

"_D-Did you even try on this?!" Kagami said incredulously, turning to the blue-haired girl, who, to her dismay, nodded. "Incidentally, Konata-san, what is this a picture of…?"_

_Konata pointed to the first picture. "This is Tsukasa."_

_Tsukasa gaped. "This was me!"_

_The blue-haired girl then pointed to the glasses-wearing girl surrounded by diamonds. "This is Miyuki-san!"_

_Kagami squinted a little and saw the little resemblance between the illustration and the pink-haired girl sitting not too far away. "Well…I could say you captured her spirit…"_

_Konata then pointed to the last drawing, snickering as she did. "This is Kagami."_

_Kagami looked at the illustration and felt her temper rise. She growled. "Ohhh, so I can breathe fire?"_

_Konata then resumed the Marimite act, making the roses appear behind her once more. "My…It fits Kagami-san's image so perfectly…What a frightening child!" _

_The purple-haired girl swore a vain popped somewhere. "Cut that out already!!" _

_-=-_

"Ah, so that's the case." Kagami was brought back to her senses as the woman in front of her snickered. She then stood up. "I know who you will be now."

"Huh?!" The purple-haired girl stood up as well. "I thought I told you I wasn't going to audition! And I didn't even tell you anything!"

"Oh, dear, that was basically the audition! And of course I can read your mind." She disappeared behind a closet and closed the door behind her.

Kagami tried to open the closet door, but it remained tightly shut. She banged on it and kicked it several times. She even tried that move she saw Misao use when her locker wouldn't open, and that one had a padlock.

The purple-haired girl was then knocked over when the closet door suddenly opened. The woman she had been talking to came back, holding some clothes. She was now wearing a black dress instead of the white blouse and slacks she had on previously. Kagami's eyes widened as she saw two black orbs pierced below the woman's lips. "Y-You're-- NO WAY!"

The woman only laughed as she snapped her fingers, causing Kagami to sink slowly beneath the floor. "Wh-What the hell is this?!"

"I'm sorry about the short meeting, but rest assured you will see me again…princess." The dark-haired woman said as she tossed the clothes she had been holding into the sinking pit, and watched as the floor returned to the normal as Kagami sank completely.

=-=

"GAH!" Kagami sat up as she extended an arm. She stopped and saw she was in a forest, with no one nearby. "Wh-what am I doing here and why--Gah!"

The purple-haired girl had noticed she was now wearing a different set of clothes. A sleeveless red shirt as well as black pants, the same ones she saw the woman holding when she came out. Her hair was up in a ponytail. She then gasped as she saw that her left arm had some sort of wrist guard on, with black markings that seemed too familiar for comfort.

She stood up, but it seemed she was unable to do so. _Wh-what's wrong with me…?!_

She tried again, and failed. She tried again, and fell to her knees. Kagami growled as she tried to get up a fourth time, and found that she was too tired to support herself that she had landed on her knees and elbows. _I can't be this weak…something's sapping my strength…_

A few minutes later, she found that she can no longer lie in this position, so Kagami lay flat on her back, getting weaker and weaker as she felt her strength being absorbed.

=-=

Konata woke up, hearing a familiar ding that indicated that someone among her friends had finished with their job selection. She then noticed the name, and smiled as she got up. "I guess I'll go see Kagamin."

The blue-haired girl then stood up as a little panel opened up and she saw a map of the forest she was in, getting two little dots of black and red among the clumps of green. Konata immediately identified that the black dot was her, and the red dot was the purple-haired girl, since she found that the red dot wasn't moving. _She must be tired or something…_

"Kagamin?" Konata said as she walked past the last few bushes. She then saw her friend, lying in the grass. She ignored the growing urge to tease the girl about her new outfit, but that urge faded completely when Kagami didn't react. In fact, the girl was barely conscious. "Whoa, did they beat you up or something?"

The purple-haired girl said nothing in reply as she squinted. "K-konata…?

Konata sat beside the girl and placed a hand on her forehead. "You're burning up. Is this some sort of status condition or something?"

"I…I don't know…" Kagami panted.

"Wait here, I'll get something that might help." Konata then pulled out the rabbit-shaped plastic, digging through the bag until she found the different vials and bottles that she knew were recovery items. "Let's see, I got a super potion, a paralyze heal, a burn heal, a revive, an Ichijo feast, soul candy and-- hey nothing for fevers? I knew I should've checked that aisle again--"

Kagami gripped Konata's arm. "…Konata, I don't think this is a status ailment."

"Eh?" Konata then examined the other girl. She was hot _both in looks AND in temperature--Hey! This isn't the time!! _And she was breathing heavily. Konata placed a thumb near Kagami's neck. _Her heart's beating way faster than usual…_She examined the rest of the girl's body, and found the problem.

There, on Kagami's left arm, the wrist guard was glowing a bright red. Konata touched it, and found that it was twice as hot as the girl wearing it, and is probably the reason why Kagami's temperature was higher than usual. She then examined the other girl's face, which had an angry expression than a pained one. _If my hunch is correct, this might be the problem._

Konata then adjusted her position and placed Kagami's head on her lap. She then lowered her head and whispered. "Kagamin, open your eyes."

The purple-haired girl stirred a bit, and opened her eyes slowly. She weakly gasped at what she saw. "Konata! Wh-what are you doing?!"

"Shh. Just calm down. For you to get better, you need to calm down." Konata said in a comforting tone, making the other girl relax a little. "You've been edgy lately, so it's best if you just forget everything for a moment and relax. And since you can't sit up to see the relaxing shade of green from the trees, my green eyes will have to do. Come on, deep breaths."

The other girl tensed up a little, but eventually relaxed. She took deep, even breaths, like Konata told her to. The purple-haired girl looked into Konata's eyes, which proved to be helpful in getting her to ease up. In a few seconds, the purple-haired girl had calmed down considerably, and she slowly felt her strength coming back.

Konata mentally sighed with relief as she felt Kagami's temperature go down. She sat up straight once the purple-haired girl's temperature went back to normal, with Kagami having more than enough energy to sit up. She then smiled, seeing that the wrist guard had stopped glowing. "You should be okay by now Kagamin."

"Y-yeah." Kagami scratched her cheeks as she felt herself blush. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Konata said. "You're a teammate, and a friend, so there's nothing I won't do to help, especially when it comes to games. Now, why don't we find the others?" Konata stood up extended a hand.

The purple-haired girl took the hand and stood up. They then started walking, as Konata checked the little panel for more dots. "Oh, by the way, how did you know that calming me down was the way to get back my strength?"

Konata shrugged. "Just something I read from a manga. Anger robs the body of the correct strength as well as blinds one's judgment. And, just now, you looked as though you were as mad as hell."

=-=Balvine=-=

"…eh?"

_A few minutes ago, _

Tsukasa had walked into the door, immediately getting glances from the four people in the room, grinds immediately appearing on their faces. "Ah!! Sergeant!!"

They all saluted the girl as a red-haired girl wearing red and had some sort of cannon strapped to her back approached the stunned purple-haired girl, or in other words, their 'sergeant'. She then grabbed Tsukasa's hand and made her sit in the chair at the center. "Sergeant, where have you been? We're late for the invasion because of you! Have you been building models again?!"

"…huh?"

"Oh come on Corporal, go easy on the Sergeant… We wouldn't want her to get too nervous before the invasion, right?" A silver-haired girl said, smiling she made her way towards Tsukasa. She then pulled the girl by the collar, making Tsukasa scream a little. She then said, in a low growl, "But if you do screw this up, I am going to dismember you."

She let go of Tsukasa as the said girl tried to hold back her tears. The silver-haired girl smiled. "Oh well. Let's do are best right, Sergeant?"

Tsukasa nodded shakily as she heard the faint sound of 'kukuku' to her right. She looked in that direction and saw a white-haired boy in yellow wearing glasses with spirals on them. "Kukuku…I should have made something to immediately teleport the Sergeant here. But I guess it's too late to do that. 2 minutes 'til takeoff."

Tsukasa then spotted the empty seat. "Hey, there's still an empty seat! Aren't we forgetting someone?"

Everyone grew silent as they then heard sobbing in the corner of the room.

The red-haired girl then spotted who exactly was making the waterworks. "Ah! There you are, Lance Corporal!"

"…You guys forgot about me again…I thought you were my friends…" A dark-haired girl said. She was wearing a mask and a light blue suit and had a ribbon to tie her hair in a ponytail.

The red-haired girl sweat-dropped as she grabbed the Lance Corporal's hand and guided the sulking girl to her seat. "There, there. After this, why don't we go shopping or something?"

"Y-you mean…with me…?"

"Yes, Lance Corporal." The red-haired girl nodded.

The dark-haired girl paused for a moment and then crossed her arms. "Fine, as long as the biosphere of the planet we will be conquering will be unharmed."

The red-haired girl was about to reply something when the room they were in…or the rocket that Tsukasa thought was a room, started moving.

The boy in yellow then said. "3…2…1…Blastoff!!"

The rocket started moving at an immense speed, seeing as though everyone was nearly engraved in their seats. Tsukasa was surprised when that had ended in two seconds.

The silver-haired girl then cheered. "Alright! Let's show the two-storey frogs of planet Neconop what we're made of!!"

"YEAH!"

_Now_

"Sergeant will take the lead!!"

"YEAH!"

"EEEEH? No--I can't--" Tsukasa's eyes widened as she was pushed to the door, landing on something that looked like an oversized pillow, which turned out to be higher than usual.

Tsukasa was then face-to-face with a very surprised red frog.

"G2roro, is there something on my head?"

The frog got something that looked like a giant slipper (it was shaped like frog's feet) and pointed it at Tsukasa. "Hold still."

"N-Now now, G2roro…let's not make anything bleed here, I've just recovered from that blow from last week."

"I said hold still!" The red frog then swung down on the slipper, heading directly for the other frog's head.

Tsukasa made a run for it as she was nearly hit by the blow. She then landed on a giant pillow, in what looked like a giant couch.

"Ow, ow ,ow…" The frog she had landed on rubbed its green head. It then looked at her. "Hey, what's that?"

"A bug probably." Another frog appeared, this time a dark blue.

"I don't care, let's just kill it." The red frog said as it tried to hit Tsukasa with it slipper again.

Tsukasa jumped from the couch and landed on the floor with a thud. The red frog then tried to step on her, but it seems as though she was too fast for it, but alas, she was cornered by the crimson reptile as she was hiding behind something that resembled a potted plant.

"SEARGEANT!!! TAKE THESE WEAPONS!!" She heard someone cry out as a bag of cleaning supplies fell from above.

"…this is supposed to be help…?" Tsukasa said as she found a rag, a bucket, a mop, some floor wax and a broom. Realizing that the red frog was going to hit her with the slipper, she finally picked her 'weapon' of choice.

"KYAAA!!!!!" Tsukasa ran full force as she gripped the broom in both hands, intending to hit the frog as if she had a sword.

She ran smack into a tree.

"Ow, ow…" Tsukasa rubbed her face as she looked up. "Huh…?" _A tree? I thought I was in planet Pekopo--err Neconop…_

Tsukasa stood up, and then noticed she was wearing a black hat and a black cloak. She was wearing a normal blouse and a skirt underneath but she then discovered that there was some sort of wand in her pockets. "Oh, there's the broom!!"

She picked up the said item, which then dragged her up in the sky.

"AAAHHHH!!!" Tsukasa screamed as she made herself sit on the broom, which had started zooming in the air. _Oh well, searching from up here might make it easier to find Kona-chan and the others. _

=-=Haiphobe=-=

Miyuki walked down the long corridor and found herself in an arcade, with people screaming "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

The pink-haired girl then gasped as a spotlight landed on her. She could hear someone's voice announce. "And in this corner, the challenger!!! Will she beat the King of Games?! Watch and find out!"

Miyuki was then pushed towards a stage of some sort, and was forced to sit down on a chair

Which was right in front of a fighting game.

Miyuki looked down on the controls as she felt her other self, or 'The other Miyuki-san' as Konata called her, took full control.

"You think you can beat me, girl?" A middle-aged spiky-haired old man said as he looked to the side. "I've been champion of this game for years."

Miyuki snickered. "Oh, really? It's time for your retirement then. And from your looks, I'm guessing that's been long overdue."

"Why you little--Hey!!" the man gasped as he saw his character being flung around by a little voodoo doll. "That wasn't fair! I wasn't ready."

"Very well. I tried to relieve you from the embarrassment of losing to me personally, but I guess you're too stupid to understand the meaning of the word 'help'." Miyuki smirked, her glasses glowing a lot like Hiyori's only more sinister.

"Just shut up and fight!!" Her opponent said, perfectly executing his character's signature move, only to have it deflected by a simple block. It was also too bad that his character was a little low on agility, or the fact that the pink-haired girl had chosen one of the weakest, but fastest, characters to kick his butt with.

It took a few seconds to get his character to move again, seeing as all the combos Miyuki had executed had been too fast for any form of counter, and right now, her opponent only had one-fourth of his original health left. And, as a last resort, he tried to execute the ultimate combo for his character, successfully doing it as he saw it grab the doll's little legs.

"WHAT THE HECK?" was the one sentence that popped out of his mouth as the voodoo doll had managed to disappear from the screen and had ended up behind the other character, and had started beating the enemy up. The only problem was, the doll kept hitting the enemy and had been acquiring double points with every hit, and the opponent's health had never gone down from one. The man tried to regain control of his character. But it was too late, for the little doll had launched an uppercut worth 50,000 points, and had knocked-out his character.

Miyuki stood up. "Kicked posterior, check. Ultimate high score, double check. Too bad it's only ten percent of my personal best."

The pink-haired girl then went to the announcer. "This match got a prize or what?"

The announcer was taken aback a little and smiled. "Oh right! Sorry, we were just so taken with the match that we didn't notice it was over! Please, choose any one of those chests over there!"

Miyuki eyed the chests, and finally chose one after about five minutes of thinking. She opened the chest, and raised her eyebrows. "Huh?"

=-=

"A toolbox? And a book?" Miyuki sat up, finding herself in a blue jumper with a lot of pockets, how many, she wasn't sure. She also had a belt of some sort, and a helmet with a magnifying glass on the side. The toolbox and the book lay on her left side. "Ah, this must be the guide to the game…"

The pink-haired girl stood up, glasses giving off a completely different aura. "Time to find the others."

=-=Barashoujo=-=

"OK. I'm at work?!" Hiyori said to herself as she eyed the illustration in front of her. A boy wearing a blue cap then put down a piece of paper on her desk. "Here you go sempai; this is the character's background."

Hiyori shrugged, a grin forming. _I guess a little role-play wouldn't hurt. This could improve my abilities both as an artist and as a gamer._

The dark-haired girl eyed the piece of paper read. She then frowned, grabbing a pen to edit. "If this girl is a tsundere, you shouldn't make her seem so sweet most of the time! Remember that a tsundere's treasure is her kindness, and therefore it should only be seen in not-so-often moments! Also, you shouldn't make her the daughter of a rich company, the most popular girl at school, a half-breed, a good fighter AND a great cook! This character's overloaded!! Who the hell made this?!"

One of the artists stood up. "I did."

Hiyori sighed. "Please remember that our characters need to be ones that the readers can relate to. They shouldn't be perfect, 'cause they'll look less realistic."

The artist nodded, and then proceeded to get the illustration and the background. The boy with the blue cap whistled. "Whoa. That was really cool boss."

Hiyori waved it off. "Nah. Balance is everything when it comes to these sorts of things."

"Oh, is that so?" The boy smirked

And the room grew pitch black.

"Wh-what?" Hiyori said as all she saw were red lines forming some sort of circle.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost." The dark-haired girl heard a monotonous voice say.

"FMA?!" Hiyori gasped, getting the idea on what's going on. "Wait a second here--"

"That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange."

"I said wai--"

**P1a2p3e4r5f6o7r8f9l0e1s2h3, 4I5n6k7f8o9r0b1l2o3o4d**

Blinding white light started to glow from the transmutation circle Hiyori found herself in. She shielded her eyes, and waited a few moments before removing her hand.

"Oh, this game is definitely going to get a 5 for special effects." Hiyori mumbled to herself as she found herself surrounded by trees instead of desks. She looked at herself, and found that she was wearing a red jacket over a sleeveless white shirt. She was wearing pants, and was holding a sketchpad as well as a strange-looking pencil with one of her gloved hands.

=-=Cosprei=-=

Patty opened her door, immediately getting a karate chop to the head. "Ouch!"

"Where were you?!" An angry girl said as she crossed her arms. Patty swore she looked a lot like someone trying to imitate Akira and forgot to put on eye contacts, for her eyes were blue, and not yellow like the said celebrity. "We've been waiting for four damn hours!!"

"Well, aren't you in character?" a blue-haired girl about the same age said, putting a hand on the shoulder of the first girl, who smiled sweetly.

"You think? I'm really getting used to cursing now." The blonde was then taken aback as she saw the pink-haired girl, who looked as though she was forced to live with a really annoying person a while ago, bowed and smiled uneasily. "I'm sorry for my rudeness Oneechan, I was just trying to get into character…It's so hard to try to voice someone who's practically your polar opposite…but that's the challenge of voice acting, right?"

"Err…yeah!" Patty said uneasily as the third girl grunted. _Voice acting…?_

"If you asked me, it's harder to try voicing my character, who's all goody-goody when you're all bad…I wonder why can't we just switch roles…" She crossed her arms.

"Aww…but you look a lot like Hisa-chan, you know?" The pink-haired girl said. "And I'm really looking forward to seeing you in that uniform too…"

"Just because we're doing the anime will not mean we'll be doing the live-action series!" She snapped. "And I do NOT want to wear a skirt as short as _that_!"

"You'd look cute in it." A woman entered with spiky brown hair.

"Don't butt into other people's conversations!"

"I'm sorry…" The woman took a step back from the fuming blue-haired girl and Patty saw tears forming in her eyes.

"Wow! You're really great at this Hir--" The pink-haired girl applauded, she then stopped abruptly and then changed her tone. "I mean…That was cool Ma-nee."

The spiky-haired woman then approached the pink-haired girl and put a hand on her head. "Glad to hear that, Anita."

She then turned to Patty, who was watching the conversation and trying not to get herself involved. "How about you?"

"Erm…" Patty had no idea on what she was to do. _Who am I playing? I know which anime this is based on but--Oh I know!_ She then frowned. "What the hell are you guys doing in my home?!"

The three were silent as their eyes widened. Then, as if on cue, another woman showed up, a brown-haired woman with glasses. "Hey!! That's my line!!"

Patty stepped back a little as she then apologized. _If I'm not her then…_ "I'm sorry about that…But can I please have my book back?"

There was silence once again as they all looked at Patty as if she had grown another head. _…Wrong again…? I'll guess I'll have to try--_

A man walked in the room and disrupted the blonde's train of thought. "Come on, we've got to start now or else there will be a great deal of people trying to knock down the door."

They all nodded as the pink-haired girl grabbed Patty's hand and practically dragged her. "Just…read your lines with feelings…Alright, Oneechan--OW!!"

The pink-haired girl was then pinched on the cheek and dragged by the blue-haired girl. "Stop flirting and let's get to work!"

"Ow, Ow Ow!! Bat I'm not fwiwting!!" The pink-haired girl whined. "I was jus twiying to helwp!!"

"Shut up! And to think I was actually considering doing the live-action with _you_! You unfaithful little wimp!"

"Awawawa…You mawde a reference!! Wolfram!!" The pink-haired girl grinned as she made the other girl blush, making the blue-haired girl pull her cheek harder.

Patty chuckled as she followed the two girls, who had basically forgotten about her. _For some reason, they remind me of two certain sempai…Besides, maybe I can get a good job for this?_

_A while later…_

"Nee, that was really great!!" The pink-haired girl said as she and the rest of the cast went out of the recording booth.

"I agree, but the manga were really good too." The spiky-haired woman said as she ruffled the younger girl's hair.

The pink-haired girl smirked and crossed her arms. "I would, but I really hate books!!"

Patty, getting the idea, approached the pink-haired girl and placed her hand in front of her mouth as she chuckled. "You're so naïve Anita! Everyone knows that manga aren't exactly books!"

The pink-haired girl lightly bopped Michelle on the head and stuck out her tongue. "Either way, I won't be interested in it." She then smiled at the blue-haired girl. "But I would be interested in taking Hisa-chan out for some parfait!"

The blue-haired girl blushed while brown-haired woman pushed up her glasses. "Well, if you're going on a date, be sure to finish your chores first, chibiko."

The pink-haired girl frowned. "Do it yourself, lazy author! Let's go Hisa-chan!" She attempted to drag the blue-haired girl out of the room, but got a pull of the ear from the said girl.

"Don't you dare try that tone with me!!"

The pink-haired girl grinned. "Owww…Sorry, I got really carried away with the role-play there…Besides, I was serious about that parfait."

The blue-haired girl blushed as she just dragged the pink-haired girl out of the room.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys later--Ow!" The pink-haired girl waved as she was yanked out of sight.

"So they've got that kind of relationship now, huh?" the brown-haired woman said.

"I guess." The spiky-haired woman nodded. "Quite a coincidence that their roles were indirectly paired up in the manga, right?"

Patty punched the air. "This just proves how anime and manga bring people together!!"

"Still in character, huh?" The brown-haired woman pushed up her glasses. She then snapped her fingers. "Come to think of it…you didn't have a pair in the manga."

"Yep." Patty nodded.

The brown-haired woman smirked in a way that fit her character. "And in the anime, you were paired up with that white-haired kid. Do I smell chemistry or what?"

Patty smiled and shook her head. "First of all, I am not a pedophile…well, not that much. And besides…" Patty winked. "I already have someone I like."

The spiky-haired woman changed her expression from shy to mischievous in milliseconds. "Oho…he must be one lucky guy then."

Patty took a step back, somehow frightened by the spiky-haired woman who looked absolutely harmless a moment ago. "Actually, he is a she. Anyways, I have to meet up with her, so please excuse me."

Patty then opened the door, stepping out to the blinding white light that she was sure hadn't been there when 'Anita' and blue-haired girl went out.

=-=

"I feel like I'm cosplaying someone…" Patty said to herself as she looked at her new set of clothes. She was wearing a green beret, and a white jacket. She then looked at the long green skirt she was also wearing. "Though I think it'd be easier to move with pants…"

Then, as if the clothes have heard their wearer's request, the skirt moved around and divided itself into two pant legs.

The blonde smiled to herself. "That's better."

Patty walked and walked along the trail, and soon found herself lost. "…who knew I had a bad sense of direction? Then again, I don't have a map."

She walked on, soon losing herself and started humming an anime theme song. She then stopped herself when she saw smoke. "Ah, civilization!"

Patty ran towards the source of the fire. Pushing the last few bushes out of the way, Patty then saw who was making the smoke. "Hiyorin!"

"Hey Patty!" The young manga author said as she looked up from her sketchpad, immediately coloring her face with red the moment she saw what exactly the other girl was wearing. "Whoa…Miche2le?"

Patty grinned. "Oh, right!! Who knew I could cosplay her!!" Patty then eyed the other girl. "Edwar2?"

Hiyori rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, though I think I'm a summon artist, seeing as the little fire I drew came to life a few seconds later." The dark-haired girl said as she revealed the sketchpad, with the pile of wood and fire that looked exactly like the one that was roaring before them.

Awkward silence then formed before both girls' stomach growled. "Ahehehe, mind drawing lunch or something?" Patty grinned as she sat down beside the other girl.

"Sure. Then maybe we can find sempai and the others."

=-=Southeagle=-=

Minami closed the door quietly and found herself by a river. She watched the ducks lingering on top of the water as she walked along the riverside, the gentle breeze putting her at ease as she saw a pair of children play on the other side. _It's peaceful here…_

The green-haired girl walked for five more minutes before encountering a wooden gate, in front of it was a girl with brown hair practicing with a bamboo sword. Minami approached the girl, who had turned around. "Um…Excuse me…"

"Kya!!" The girl jumped and quickly tried to hit Minami with her sword, which the green-haired girl had managed to catch.

"I'm sorry! I'm not used to the element of surprise yet…" The girl bowed. "You must be the new arrival they were talking about…I'll take you to Oto--err…Sensei right away…"

Minami nodded as she played along. She followed the girl as she went in the big, wooden gate, and into the various corridors of the seemingly large compound that contained students of young and old carrying every kind of weapon one could imagine. They stopped as Minami watched the brown-haired girl open the door. "Please go inside…O--Sensei is waiting for you."

The green haired girl stepped in the room and was now greeted by a woman who looked a lot like the brown-haired girl before, except for the fact that she had raven-black hair. "You wish to enroll to this school?"

Once again, Minami played along as she nodded. The woman did the same and smiled sheepishly, making the green-haired girl see more resemblance between her and the girl before. "I'm sorry, but Kono-cha--err…the person who was supposed to be dealing with the new recruits had a meeting…so I'll try my best…So…sit down?"

The green-haired girl sat down on the floor, facing the older woman who seemed to be spacing out. "Um…"

She snapped out of it as she rubbed the back of her head. "Ah, sorry…I'm just a little worried. The person that I'm filling in for is on a dangerous mission, and I usually come along with her but…"

Minami nodded, being able to relate with the woman's worries. The raven-haired swordsman smiled as she put both her hands on her lap. "My name's Setsuna. And since you've enrolled in this school, you'll be calling me sensei in a few days."

Setsuna coughed and resumed her previous, serious expression. "Anyways, what was your relationship with the students in your old school?"

Minami thought for a moment, deciding that she would answer all the questions honestly. "Everyone views me as a perfect person, though I'm not really…And I'm hard to approach, so I have few friends. And even fewer people who can understand how I really act."

The woman nodded and then proceeded. "If you could choose any weapon for a fight, what would be your choice?"

Minami scratched her cheek. "Well, I don't normally pick fights and I usually try to prevent them from happening. But if a situation like that arises then…I'd choose something light and easy to handle, and is both good in offense and defense…maybe a sword."

Setsuna grinned. "That's a fine choice. But may I ask you, what is the purpose of your sword…if you were to have one?"

Minami stayed silent as she thought. _What was my reason for joining this game? I could be studying right now or playing with Cherry-chan in the backyard, but why did I choose otherwise?_

The green-haired girl's thoughts then strayed to Miyuki, who had invited her. She then remembered how she was about to refuse the offer when the older girl mentioned Yutaka's name, and all that she could think about was being able to see the girl, and protecting her from all and any harm that may come, even if this was a game.

"I…want to protect the people I will be joining later, more specifically, my friend…"

The raven-haired woman smiled as she stood up. "Your will is impressive. I can see why they say you're perfect. Just wait one moment."

Setsuna stood up, opened the door, and let the brown-haired girl from before enter the room. "Kaoru here will keep you company while I'm gone."

The brown-haired girl smiled sheepishly as Setsuna pat her head. She then sat across Minami and made eye contact with the older girl.

Minami watched the woman get out of the room and close the door. A brief silence surrounded them both before the younger girl decided to speak up. "That was my mom."

Minami nodded. "I figured just as much…You two look alike."

Kaoru then looked at her with curious eyes. "You're gonna be a swordsman like Oto-chan right?"

Minami raised an eyebrow. "Oto…chan?"

"Err…" The younger girl scratched her cheek. "I mean…Setsuna-sensei…I just call her that 'cause she's really boyish."

"Ah…" Minami replied. "It must be very hard to be both a student and a daughter of your teacher…"

"Yeah…" Kaoru sighed. "So, has sensei given you your starter sword yet?"

Minami was about to shake her head when they heard voices from the outside.

"Setsuna-sama! There are intruders in the southern gate! Konoka-oujosama has also come back!"

"What?! Every available onmiyouji approach the northern border! Students go in their dorms! Tell my father-in-law the news!"

Kaoru's eyes widened as she stood up quickly and opened the door, running to Setsuna. "Oto-chan! What's happening?"

Minami, who followed the girl, saw Setsuna and her daughter, with the raven-haired woman wielding a sword. "Kaoru! Stay back!!"

Suddenly, a demon lunged at the teacher, but only managed to grab air. The raven-haired woman then appeared behind the demon and sliced through it, leaving little to the child's imagination of what a demon's insides look like. Setsuna then grabbed Kaoru as quickly as she had landed, and placed her next to Minami.

"Kaoru…it's not safe here." Setsuna wiped of some of the blood from the scared girl's face. "Leave this to the grown-ups…ok?"

Kaoru, who looked as though the world had crashed on top of her, nodded hesitantly. "They're after me and Ka-chan, aren't they?"

Setsuna hesitantly nodded. She then leaned down and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Don't worry, neither you nor Kono-chan are going to get captured, ok? Your grandfather already knows of the situation and is sending Miyazaki-san and the others."

"But…"

Setsuna then grinned. "Now, now… we don't want your Aunt Asuna to see that you're crying, right? Or do you want her to give you another 50 laps around the field with Kamo teasing you? Or do you want her to make Ayase-san lecture you about the concept of infinity?"

Kaoru laughed a little as she started to smile. "Be careful, Oto-chan. We don't want Ka-chan to flip out like last time."

The raven-haired swordsman nodded as she stood up. "I will, I will. Now, go to a safe place." She then turned to Minami. "I know this is too soon but…take this."

Setsuna removed a sword and hilt from her right, tossing it to Minami. "I know you've got potential. The sword's name is Ala Griseo. Kaoru, you know what to do just in case."

Both girls nodded as Minami followed Kaoru to what Minami assumes would be the dorms. Both were then stopped in their tracks when a giant demon appeared from behind them. Minami clumsily drew out the sword, whose blade was white-gray with lines and markings that Minami could not understand. The green-haired girl gripped the gray handle (where the name of the sword was engraved) and stared at the demon, who had disappeared.

The next thing Minami knew was that she was blocking the demon's attempt to behead her from behind, as well as the fact that she had blocked the next blow, and the next, and the next, and the next.

_What is this…My body is moving on its own…_

Minami soon found herself attacking as she blinked. She had managed to hit the demon on the arm, which fell off with a bloody 'thud'.

_...It's as if the sword has become a part of my body…_

The demon was backed into a corner when Minami felt something strange. She then saw that the sword was coming apart, the pieces of its blade floating into the air. The green-haired girl didn't notice that they had all landed on her back, reconnecting themselves.

Minami felt a burst of uncontrollable power surge through her, white light engulfing her body but then going to the now empty handle, forming a glowing blade much sharper than the previous one.

The demon then charged for her, and Minami easily dodged as if she were fighting with a raged turtle. The enemy did this for a few more times, and by the time it was panting, Minami still had not a bead of sweat on her.

The green-haired girl then decided to finish the battle, and lunged for the kill.

_Jovis temperestas fulguriens!!_

=-=

Minami woke up as she felt someone poking her right cheek with a stick. She tried her best to classify it as some branch was just moving because of the birds that were in the tree but she then opened her eyes when the last jab made her feel a little angry.

She calmed down a little when she found out she was a few feet above the ground, and Patty was trying to get her down like what she would do when getting fruit from a tree. "Patty-san?"

"Minami! You're awake!" Patty gasped a little. She then pouted. "And I was planning a little moment between you and Yutaka too…"

An image of the red-haired girl appeared in Minami's mind. "Yutaka? Where is she?"

"She hasn't arrived yet…" The blond scratched her cheek. "Anyways, Minami, can you get down now? I'm getting stiff-necked with all the looking up to talk to you."

"Ah…Sorry." Minami said as she disentangled her arms and legs from the branches, and found out that she couldn't get out. "Eh?"

"What is it Minami?"

"I seem to be stuck…but my arms and legs are free from the branches." Minami tried to jump once more, and felt a slight pain.

"Try slicing up the branches with that." Patty said as she pointed to the dagger at Minami's waist, which looked a lot like the sword the raven-haired woman handed her earlier.

Minami nodded as she proceeded to cut the branches. She then felt gravity calling her as she fell when she cut a slightly large branch.

"Hold it!!" A cushion then popped up as Minami fell. Hiyori grinned. "All right!"

Patty grinned back as she gave the other girl a thumb's up. "Nice timing!"

The green haired girl sat up, and all three girls stared at each other before the two otaku shouted with glee.

"HANYOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!"

Minami tilted her head. "Huh?"

Hiyori then pat the green-haired girl on the back, more specifically, the space between Minami's white-gray wings. "This has to be the coolest job!"

"It fits Minami perfectly!!" Patty crossed her arms as she touched Minami's left wing.

The said girl just stared at her wings as if she had just grown an inch. "…I'm a half-demon?"

"Yep!" Patty nodded.

"And the reason why you were probably stuck in the tree would be because of your wings! This is so cool!!!" Hiyori said with delight as she started examining the other girl's feathers. "Can you fly?"

Minami shook her head. "I have no idea how."

"Oh well…Just try flexing them 'til you're ready. I'll draw a plane so that we can help!" The dark-haired girl said, but the energetic moment was then interrupted when Patty coughed.

"Girls, I know we're really stunned with our new jobs and everything but…Konata will kill us if we don't meet up with her and the others…Especially if she finds us lost _and_ without Yutaka."

"Oh…right. I forgot about that…" The dark-haired girl pushed up her glasses. "Let's go."

=-=Chibirisu=-=

"It's so huge…" Yutaka said to herself as she walked down what seemed to be a wide hallway. On both sides were chairs and chairs, and Yutaka wondered if there was a big stage at the end of the trail. She then spotted a window, and decided to take a peek.

Yutaka's eyes were met with countless clouds. She then figured out what was going on. "I-I'm…in a plane?"

"Yes, you are." A girl's voice said as Yutaka jumped. Yutaka turned around as she saw a brown-haired girl in blue and white. "Chibirisu right?"

Yutaka nodded uneasily.

"You're here for your job right?"

Yutaka nodded again.

The brown-haired girl tapped her chin. "Okay. I'll just ask you a few questions then. But first, follow me."

The girl stood up and Yutaka found herself in a very big, dark space. "Um…couldn't you have asked me the questions a while ago?"

"I could've, but it didn't have the right mood." The brown-haired girl smiled.

"Oh…" Yutaka nodded.

"You're nervous aren't you?"

"Well, yes…" Yutaka nodded a little. She then grew uncomfortable as she felt the other girl scan her face.

"From the looks of things, you're a younger sister…Am I right?"

Yutaka nodded as the brown-haired girl squealed with delight. "Oh, I knew it!! So, what do you think of her?"

Yutaka thought about it for a moment as an image of Yui popped into her head. "Well, my sister and I are really close…but I don't think I know much about her, since she's a lot older than me and we haven't got a chance to have fun together ever since she got married and got work…"

"Really? Is she mean to you or anything?"

Yutaka shook her head. "No. In fact, she looks after me all the time. Our mother usually got sick so she was the one who took care of me most of the time…"

The other girl nodded and smiled. "Well, that's all the questions I needed."

"Huh?!" Yutaka gasped. "But I thought you just wanted to know!"

"Ahehe…" The other girl giggled, but then snapped her fingers. "Oh, right!! One last question: A stuffed animal or a robot?"

"…Is this some sort of trick question?" The red-haired girl tilted her head.

"No. I just had a fight with my sister over which was a better present for my best friend." The brown-haired girl winked.

"Well…I'd choose a stuffed animal, since robots make me uncomfortable…" Yutaka scratched her cheek.

The other girl giggled as she put a hand in her small bag. "Hmmm….where? Oh not this one, not this one…Oh! This is the diamond Toris gave me for my birthday! Wait, what was it again? Oh, right!…not this one…ah, here!"

The brown-haired girl handed Yutaka a gem, which then started glowing the same color as Yutaka's hair. "Take this stone and use it in times of danger."

"Um…thanks…" Yutaka bowed and then felt a strong gust of wind as she saw the room brighten up considerably.

"Nice meeting you. Bye."

The brown-haired girl then pushed Yutaka off the plane after the red-haired girl turned around.

=-=

"Eh?" Yutaka shot her arms up, trying to get a grip on something, anything to keep her from falling. But, alas, her only hope was the edge of the plane she had been pushed out of.

_I…I can't die in a place like this! I don't want to be the first one out! I want to help Oneechan and the others! I…I…_

Yutaka once thought that falling from the sky would be pretty quick, like a 'whoosh!' then a sickly 'splat!'. But, as she fell, it felt like forever. The clouds seemed to pass her slowly, and she could hear nothing.

"_Take this stone and use it in times of danger."_

The red-haired girl's eyes widened as she took out the stone, which was still glowing a bright red. She took it in both her hands, and stared at it as if she was talking to it. _Please, grant me your power. I don't want to be a burden to anyone! _

The stone lost its glow. Yutaka sighed as tears formed on the corner of her eyes._ This is my end…I'm sorry, everyone._

Yutaka then saw the stone glow a brilliant blue. And, within milliseconds, she wasn't falling anymore, and she found herself in the arms of a person she didn't expect to see until she had landed and walked around. "Mi-Minami-chan?"

"Yutaka." Minami raised her eyebrows as she realized that she was in the air, she was more surprised to see that she somehow figured out how to fly. Now, she was holding her red-haired classmate, who also had a change in wardrobe, seeing as the pink shirt she had the last time Minami saw her was replaced by a green, long-sleeved shirt with a white vest. The blue skirt she had been wearing had been replaced by a pair of green shorts, as well as a brown belt with a pouch and a slot containing some sort of instrument that Minami assumed was a flute of some sort."…You look…good."

"Th-thanks…" Yutaka felt her cheeks burn as she eyed Minami, who to her surprise, now had wings. "Wow, Minami-chan! You look like an angel!"

It was now Minami's turn to blush as the girl in her arms smiled at her. "Th-thank you. Patty-san and Hiyori-san are waiting for us on the ground."

Minami then began to figure out a way on how to get down. And Yutaka smiled as she looked at the stone, which had returned to its original glow. _Thank you. _"Thank you too, Minami-chan, for saving me."

Minami nodded a 'You're welcome' but wondered why the girl said 'thank you _too_', but she decided not to bring it up.

=-=

"HOLY CRAP THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" Hiyori yelled at the top of her lungs as Minami's feet touched the ground once more. The green-haired girl put the girl down Yutaka as the red-haired girl said another 'thank you'.

"HECK YEAH IT WAS!" Patty cheered as she punched the air repeatedly. "Minami, did you see yourself just now?! I mean, there you were, walking with us when you glowed bright blue!!"

"Yeah! Yeah! You seemed to be in a trance that Patty can't even snap you out of! And it was really cool when you took off all of a sudden!!" Hiyori grinned. "I mean, all the trees shuddered when you flew!" Hiyori then held her nose as she mumbled. "You almost blew Patty's clothes off too but let's not try to recall that…"

Patty continued. "Come to think of it, how did you know that Yutaka was falling when we were going in the opposite direction?"

"I didn't." Minami shook her head as the two otaku were dumbfounded.

"Really? You must be joking!"

"I'm not. I don't even remember how I got up in the air. All I remembered was I was in the air with Yutaka in my arms."

Silence. Patty and Hiyori seemed to have gotten an idea and looked at each other, as if to debate whether it was true or not. Then, the two simultaneously turned their heads toward Yutaka. "…what?"

"Nothing." The young artist in the group said as she pushed up her glasses. _I can't believe it._

Yutaka pouted a little. "Come on Tamura-san! Tell me!! This is like that time with the ya…yai…yaoi thing!!"

"Never mind that, Yutaka." Patty said as she pushed the girl towards the direction they were headed a while ago. "Now let's go before Konata and Minami double-kill me for getting us lost and separated from the group."

=-=Carnibuor=-=

"…and therefore you must not…"

Misao tapped her feet in annoyance as she didn't bother to listen to the old man she had met in this strange room. She had entered the room and was seen by the old man (smoking a pipe as he did) who had greeted her and then decided to recite every single rule in what seemed to be a meter-thick scroll.

And, a dozen rules and explanations later, she had started to observe where she was. It was a candle-lit room with a big circle in the middle, and on the walls were some symbols that Misao could tell was of the kanji of different animals, the zodiac to be precise. The old man was wearing some sort of white and red robe, and he had a triangular hat of the same color. And on it was a kanji far too small to be read.

Even looking around has its limits.

_Oh COME ON. EVERYONE ELSE IS PROBABLY WAITING FOR ME! DO YOU REALIZE HOW EMBARRASING IT IS TO LOSE A CHALLENGE ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?! I WANNA MOVE ON! NOW!!_

"Excuse me but--"

"Quiet!" The old man said, his pipe emitting more smoke. "There are still a thousand more rules to go!"

_A thousand more…?_ Misao's eye twitched as she snapped. "DARN IT! WHO CARES ABOUT THE RULES?! I CAN DO IT MY OWN WAY!"

The old man smirked. "Very well… But there is one thing that I need to give you before you go."

Misao grinned, having finally been allowed to go. The fact that she was going to be given a reward for listening (or looking like she was listening) made her grin even wider. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Is it a super rare item?!"

He chuckled. "In a way… Young lady, what I am going to give you will be your power."

Misao's eyes widened. "Wha--"

She was cut off as the old man punched her with an open palm.

Misao felt intense pain when she was hit. It felt as though she was shot by a burning bullet, and the heat was slowly being transferred to her body via a meteor shower, and the rocks were bouncing off her stomach and covered whatever body part it hit in scratches. She felt in on her arms, her legs, and her neck. The brunette fund even more pain as she found that most of the force that bounced back was hitting her face, her cheeks to be precise.

The palm stayed there, and Misao was too hurt to even scream and writhe in pain. The burning sensation escalated, and the brunette could feel her stomach hurt even more. She felt as though something was being etched into her.

Then the final hurdle of pain came, and Misao felt as though a boulder the size of Mount Fuji had landed on her stomach.

The old man watched the girl as she fell to elbows and knees, panting. It took a few seconds before Misao was rolling on the floor, writhing and gripping her stomach as though she wanted to rip it out. He waited a few minutes before the brunette had collapsed, body lightly shaking, her seemingly vibrating fingers rested uneasily on the sides of her stomach.

He then pulled the girl by her jacket towards the center of the room, and formed something with his hands that caused the circle to glow and the unconscious girl to disappear with a 'poof'.

=-=

Misao opened her eyes as she felt something drip on her cheek. She saw that she was in a forest, lying on the grass. She tried to move her legs, but they felt as weak as melted chocolate right now. Her stomach still hurt, and it felt as though something was swirling in the girl's body. She tried to sit up with the help of a nearby tree, and decided that she waited until she had recovered properly, since her gauge had told her that she actually had negative HP, and for some reason she wasn't dead. She then watched as little ones started popping up, and she slowly felt better.

The brunette felt the ground shake as a shadow appeared from behind the trees in front of her.

"AAAUGHHHHH!"

=-=

"Was that…?" Kagami said as she quickly stood up.

Konata snapped to attention, having heard the cry of pain. She stood up, and decided to PM the others, who she still had not seen but hopefully not alone.

And to seven of the girls there appeared the urgent message of their acting leader:

**PM from Konakona: Misakichi is in trouble! Head toward the screams!! Get ready to fight!**

\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

Chatroom LS

--start--

Sniperiincho: Well, that must've hurt like hell.

Konakona: I told you so. Hopefully, Misakichi would get a lot more powerful with that, being bestowed with her power and all.

Sniperiincho: Meh. Wait, didn't I tell you to stop giving out spoilers?

Konakona: It looks as though I'm allowed to do that, since I was allowed a peek on what our jobs are going to be.

Sniperiincho: You little spoiler!!

Sugarette: …Is Misa-chan going to be alright?

Konakona: Of course she is! She's supposed to be chatting in this chapter too, right? MISAKICHI, SHOW YOURSELF!

Haiphobe: I'm sorry Izumi-san, but an old man told me I was to fill in for Kusakabe-san.

Konakona: Oh, you mean the Hok2ge?

Sugarette: …

Konakona: …Ah, crap. So much for my efforts on trying to make the mood lighter…

Sniperiincho: Konata, you're making the mood more serious. Minegishi, calm down. Misao's way too energetic to be killed. She'll wake up soon. The author hasn't changed the genre to Tragedy anyway, so hopefully none of us will die.

Sugarette: Thank you Hiiragi-chan

Sniperiincho: Don't mention it.

--Sugarette has left the chatroom--

Konakona: Was it just me or did you make thinks worse? Oh, and when you said…'The author hasn't changed the genre to Tragedy anyway, so hopefully none of us will die.' Isn't that a spoiler?

Sniperiincho: Shut up.

Haiphobe: Errr…Can you two please calm down?

Konakona: Ah, sorry Miyuki-san. Anyways, next chapter will be our first big boss battle! Our abilities will finally manifest themselves! And let me tell you Kagamin's ability is as _fiery_ and _brutal_ as she is passionate!! As expected of a tsundere!

Sniperiincho: WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?

Haiphobe: Oh dear…

Konakona: Uh-oh. Miyuki-san! Please give out the title before this story can get a rating boost for language!!

Sniperiincho: JUST WAIT A DAMN MOMENT

Haiphobe: Um…Next Chapter: BBB1…We hope to see you there.

--cut--


	3. Big Boss Battle 1

Disclaimer/s:

-Lucky Star is not mine.

-Any anime/manga/video game/book that I will mention here do not belong to me.

-Fight Pan is a fictional game corporation that I made up and is not related to any gaming company.

\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

Stranded in a Twisted RPG

Chapter 3: Big Boss Battle 1

Sei went back to the room, with a mug of coffee in hand. She looked at the little screen, turned it on, and touched a few buttons. The screen then displayed the forest map showing all of the girls are online. She grabbed the mike and turned it on. "OK. I assumed all of you have arrived there?"

She raised an eyebrow when no one replied. "Hello? Legendary Girl A-sama and company? Can you hear me?"

No reply.

"What in the world is going on he--" Sei gasped as she saw one of the dots blinking red. "One of them is fighting? But how?! We haven't deployed the level one enemies yet! Unless…!" Sei checked the system, and found that she couldn't input anything. She stood up, running out of the room, yelling "Satomi-san!!!!!!"

=-=Sugarette=-=

Ayano trudged through the forest she had entered though her door. _Though I wish I hadn't changed clothes…It's hard to move in this dress. _Ayano thought to herself as she looked at the black and white outfit she had noticed she was wearing when she entered, after white light engulfed her for a moment and then faded, turning the surroundings into a flurry of green leaves and brown tree trunks.

Ayano almost tripped when a message suddenly appeared in front of her face. She gaped at what it said.

**PM from Konakona: Misakichi is in trouble! Head toward the screams!! Get ready to fight!**

_Mi--Misa-chan is…in trouble?! I--I have to find her --I have to help her out! I have to--_

The girl's train of panicked thoughts was interrupted by a big 'BAM!' Ayano turned to where the sound came from, immediately seeing all sorts of lights and numbers rising from a distant clearing. _She's--She's losing that much?!_

In no less than half a second Ayano started running at full speed, with the sounds becoming louder and the lights becoming brighter with each step. Another message appeared in front of her face again, causing her to trip.

**PM from Carnibuor: Ayano don't come any closer**

But, it was too late. A dark creature had looked in her direction, appearing from the clearing. In a blink of its red eye, it charged towards the orange-haired girl. Ayano closed her eyes and prepared for the impact, which wasn't as hard as it was supposed to be. "Huh?"

"…guess that thing saw you…" Misao grinned weakly, gesturing towards the creature that had lodged itself stuck to a tree. "…Remind me to use my points in Speed and Defense when I level up…"

"Mi-Misa-chan!" Ayano gasped lightly as she surveyed her friend from top to bottom. The brunette, who was on top of her, had used her shoulder to push her to the side. Her clothes had also changed; Misao, whose body was covered with cuts and scratches, now had something on her forehead, wearing something that resembles jogging pants and a long sleeved shirt. Her gloved hands were holding her stomach. Ayano's eyes widened as she saw red smoke instead of red blood around Misao's stomach area. "Misa-chan, where did you--"

The creature backed up and freed itself. Misao did her best to stand up. Holding her stomach, she looked back at Ayano. "No time to explain." The orange-haired girl watched as Misao fiddled with something in her pockets. The brunette then pulled out a kunai. "Guess…I'll have to go first…"

=-=Konakona;Sniperiincho=-=

"Konata, wait!!" Kagami said as she tried to catch up to the blue-haired girl, apparently she still can run as fast as she could in the real world.

Konata jogged in place as she waited for the other girl. "C'mon Kagami! If my guess is correct, Misakachi will either have fainted by now, or have negative stamina." She then checked the map. _Ah wait; there are two black dots on the map. Can't tell which is which. Oh right! __Map filter: username_ Konata grinned to herself as the map changed, revealing ten girls on the map. She and Kagami were on the bottom left corner, moving to the Misao, whose icon was glowing red. _Ah, Minegishi-san must've found her. That's good._ Konata then took note that Tsukasa was flying in circles in the north.

**To Balvine: Tsukasa, think 'map' and head towards the black and blue dots.**

After Kagami had caught her breath, the two of them resumed running. Konata looked at the map again, seeing a group of four _probably Yu-chan's group _coming from the east. _The other _Miyuki was efficiently making her way to the site. Casting a look at Kagami, Konata had one thought._ We better hurry up too. I'm getting a feeling things are going to be ugly._

=-=

Satomi and Hikaru Sakuraba are cousins. Their parents brought them together to play ever since childhood. A strong bond had formed between them as they became adults, and that was a bond that involved them both liking Science. But, even though Hikaru was more interested in teaching science and Satomi focused more on computer science than any other field, the two occasionally help each other out.

They were having a pleasant discussion on operating systems when Sei entered the room squealing her employer's name.

"What is it?" Satomi asked casually, turning away from her cousin who had never seen the blonde freak out before. Satomi, on the other hand, sees Sei like this at least twice a week, with the girl complaining to her about something that went wrong.

"Shachou…Shachou….We've been….we've--"

"What the hell is it?" Both Sakurabas chorused.

"We've been hacked…" Sei said, teary-eyed.

Both Sakurabas' glasses then had a sinister glow. "…what?"

"We've been hacked, shachou…" Sei said uneasily.

"By who?" Satomi growled.

"I don't know…It seems we've lost control over the system…" Sei said, turning her attention to the ground.

"lost…"

"…control?" Hikaru's eye twitched. "So all of those nights I spent encoding was for nothing?!?! Damn it! I swear, if I ever find out who did this I will--"

"Erm…Hikaru-san?"

"What?! Don't interrupt me while I'm rambling!" The teacher snapped.

"…your students…are still inside the game…" Sei backed away.

"Oh, the game? Man, I thought it was the company database…" Hikaru sighed. It took her a second to process the second part of Sei's sentence. "WHAT?! Get them out of there immediately!!"

"We can't! We've lost control, remember?" Satomi said. "Argh! I am in deep sludge…"

Hikaru stood up. "Satomi, let's go to the main database. Sakuraba Hikaru is not the type of teacher that lets her students rot in cyberspace."

=-=Carnibuor;Sugarette=-=

That morning, Misao woke up fine and dandy. She cheerfully started her day with the mornings preparations, even humming a small tune as she walked to Ayano's house to pick her up and meet Konata and the others. Now, she was asking herself why exactly was she feeling like someone had abducted her from her jovial world and had put her in a fanfiction story that was of the Tragedy category, or whichever category is it that puts their main characters to hell of a lot of pain.

Her best friend was doing her best to help, or try to help, for this matter.

"Mi-Misa-chan!! Wait! I'll help!!" Ayano stood up, supporting Misao, who looked like she could collapse at any minute.

"Don't." The brunette replied, weakly pushing the other girl away. She balanced in her two feet and tightened her hold on the kunai. She did her best to dodge the charging beast, which looked like a bear android, wearing sunglasses and a bear's version of earphones. She had moved just in time, and tried to wedge the weapon into its skin, or armor, whichever works. Something then caught her eye and she ran towards it, with the bear following her.

Misao dodged at the last minute as the bear ran towards her, falling into a hole. The now panting brunette sat down and the little 1's resumed their performance. "See? I….can handle this."

The orange-haired girl on the other hand, did not see in that way. "…Stop it Misa-chan. You're hurt. Just…"She stopped for a moment, thinking if she would really be of use in the situation: Misao being attacked by a beast and the said girl had -220 HP while Ayano was standing there, she who has no experience whatsoever when it came to games. "…just let me help."

The brunette tapped her chin in thought. Once her HP had reached to around -130, she stood up, and made her way to the orange-haired girl. She grabbed Ayano's shoulders and began pushing her lightly. Ayano, thinking that Misao needed her for support, quickly backed up and leaned against a tree. This was a choice she immediately regretted, given that it was an awkward position to be cornered by your too-close-breathing-in-your-ear best friend. The orange-haired girl shivered a little when Misao's breath did come in contact with her ear, whispering to her. "I have…one condition."

"…what…?"

Misao backed up a little, as she gave Ayano a weak smile. "I'll let you help me…" The brunette then leaned in.

To whisper into Ayano's ear once more. "On the moment you find a weapon, break free from this wire, and prove to me that you can fight."

Ayano, who found herself dazed and flustered for some reason, snapped back into reality. "…eh?" She watched as Misao was grinning, weakly but happily, to herself. Ayano tried to move her legs, but found out that Misao had somehow tied her to the tree.

The brunette was admiring her handiwork when the robotic bear climbed out of the hole. They heard a whirring sound from its throat. It didn't surprise the brunette when the bear started talking. "I hope you don't mind but, I'm going to finish this off."

"Strange words coming from the monster who charged at us a while ago." Misao said, readying herself for the incoming battle. She looked at her gauge. _Weird…the gauge says I have -57 HP and yet I can stand up…Sei-san said I'd only be able to stand up once my HP reaches 20…It's like…It's like…something's lending me its energy for me to stay on my feet…_Misao shook her head. _No time for theoretical junk, it's time to fight._

=-=Haiphobe=-=

Miyuki pushed up her glasses as she made her way to Misao and Ayano. She had, by far, read almost everything about the job classes, items and spells when Konata had sent the alert message that one of their teammates were in danger. Now, a few steps more and she's within the creature's vision, she had read everything related to fighting. _It's a good thing that this book has an index…I'll need to do my best to help Izumi-san and the others…If there is such a case that…__she__…is unable to assist them…_

**Invalid command**

Miyuki jumped a little as she heard a monotone voice in her head. _Th-though I wish she was here right now instead of me…_

She flipped another page, revealing strategies and combos. Once she had finished reading it, the pink-haired girl's glasses were glowing differently. With a smirk, she pulled something from her belt, something that resembled a wrench.

"Ah, wait." Miyuki stopped in her tracks. _PM:Carnibuor_

Miyuki mentally composed the message. She then pushed up her glasses, her smirk never leaving her face. "Time to gather some materials."

**To Carnibuor: Sorry Kusakabe, but I'm gonna be a little late. Hope you can hold on a little longer. **

Miyuki then headed back to the forest, with a wrench and screwdriver in hand.

=-=Carnibuor;Sugarette=-=

"Shit." Misao panted, gripping her shoulder. Her HP was down to -300 now, and to think that this was only the bear's third attack.

"Now this is interesting…"The bear said as Misao and Ayano heard more whirrs. "I've never encountered anything that won't die after two attacks before…"

The bear grabbed Misao's throat and lifted the girl up in the air.

"Mi-Misa-chan!!" Ayano said, trying to break free of the wires.

Misao gasped as she tried to claw the bear's metal skin. Upon hearing the other girl's cries, the brunette looked at the other girl.

**PM from Carnibuor: Don't move. It might notice you.**

Another clicking of gears was heard from the enemy's head. It then let go of Misao, letting the girl fall flat on her behind as she looked at Ayano. "So that's how it is. I'll disable you first." It headed towards the orange-haired girl, it was about to punch the said girl in the gut

When, somehow, through some sort of weird force, Misao got in between the two and had taken the blow for her friend.

**-75 HP**

Misao gasped for air. _I…I don't know how I got here…but…as long as whatever is keeping me on my feet is doing it's job…I'll fight. Ayano is…defenseless right now. Gotta stay strong and protect her. _She panted as she tightened her grip on the bear's metal arm. "Heh…Sorry pal. But you gotta finish the meal before eating the dessert."

"Still standing after four hits." There was another whir of machinery. It threw Misao across the field, the girl's back hitting a tree as it spoke "Congratulations, girl, because I'll be giving you my full attention from now on."

=-=Southeagle;Chibirisu;Barashoujo;Cosprei=-=

"Let's see…the map says Sempai and the others are this way…" Patty said as she walked through a few shrubs. She then noticed that there were no footsteps to be heard other than her own. The blond turned back. "Guys?"

"Sorry, Patty-chan…I just needed a little rest." Yutaka said as she sat down on the grass. Minami, naturally, kneeled and was asking if Yutaka was okay. And, Hiyori was in the background, mumbling about some random fantasy about two girls alone and lost in the forest.

The blond sighed. "Come on guys! How do you expect us to be good teammates if we get distracted by every little thing? I'm—"

"Patty, look at our health bars please." Hiyori said as she wiped her nose, sitting down.

"Hm?"

**Chibirisu: 13/100**

**Southeagle: 19/100**

**Barashoujo: 14/100**

**Cosprei: 20/100**

Patty raised an eyebrow. "Your point?"

"That we use up stamina when we walk long distances." Minami said. "And that we need some rest."

Patty sighed as she sat down. Little 1's started popping out from above their heads. "Fine."

They waited for a little while as their HP reached up to 80. Then Hiyori heard engine sounds coming from the southern part where they were in.

Hiyori blinked. She shook her head. Yet, no matter what she did, she could still hear the sound. Luckily, she wasn't the only one, since Yutaka said in disbelief. "Does anybody hear a car?"

The others nodded their heads as they then saw a very large vehicle made of green and brown. "Wow! It's made out of twigs and leaves!" Yutaka said in awe.

Hiyori only raised an eyebrow as she poked the tires, the type you see on any ordinary car in the city. "These don't look organic."

"It's easy to make those tires once you make the proper tools and materials."

"Ah, Miyuki-sempai!" The four students looked up to see a smiling Miyuki, who was in the driver's seat.

Miyuki opened the door, causing some vines to roll down and form a sort of stepladder. "Come on, we can reach Kusakabe and the others quickly once I put this on turbo."

The four girls nodded and entered the vehicle one by one. To their surprise, it was all one big room, with a steering wheel and chair on a corner.

"I figured we needed a form of transportation in this world. You know, for quests and such." Miyuki explained, after she put the vehicle on autopilot. "There's more behind that door, so feel free to explore."

Three of the girls nodded as Hiyori led the way to the said door, with Patty following as she dragged a certain red-haired girl. Miyuki only pushed her glasses. "You're not going to follow them?"

Minami shook her head. "I have something to ask you. Normally I won't do this to the normal you, Miyuki-san."

Miyuki smirked. "Ah, right. Both you and Izumi know and can tell between me and, as you say, the normal me. So, what is it that you want to discuss with me?"

"Sei-san…was supposed to meet us after job selection wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was." Miyuki nodded as she gazed briefly at the map. "And I don't think we should be this scattered once we enter the game."

Minami looked at the window before looking at the door that lead deeper into the vehicle. She could hear her friends' astonished and awed voices. She hesitated for a moment. "There's something wrong, isn't there?"

The pink-haired girl stayed silent for a moment. "Yes, there is." She pushed up her glasses. "When we get there, try your best not to die. The one that attacked Kusakabe…it isn't a part of the game."

Minami silently nodded.

Miyuki looked at the map again. "We're nearing battle, tell your friends to prepare."

The green-haired girl nodded as she opened the door, meeting with her friends.

=-=Carnibuor;Sugarette=-=

There was a series of hits: a punch, a kick, blow to the gut, left hook, and an uppercut. None of which were done by Misao. The said girl was sprawled on the ground, her body now having a new set of bruises and cuts.

She cursed as she got up, getting another hit to the shoulder. In a second she was on the ground again.

Ayano, who had realized a few seconds earlier that screaming "Misa-chan" while trying to escape was useless, watched in utter horror as the brunette was being beat up to a pulp. She searched herself for some sort, any sort of weapon for the fifth time; but, alas, she wasn't able to find any.

Misao was down on the ground again, this time by Ayano's feet. She stood up, and prepared a private message for the girl.

**To Sugarette: Ayano, I'm going to cut the wires. When I do, run as far away from here as possible, ok? I'll try to fight him long enough for you to find Hiiragi and the others. **

She had grabbed a kunai and backed away when she had received a message.

**PM from Sugarette: Misa-chan, don't do this alone. Let's find Hiiragi-chan and the others together.**

Misao frowned.

**To Sugarette: There's no other choice. Just run away without me. It's not like I'm going to die or anything. If I do 'die', you can just remove the helmet and look left. Once you've finished testing the game, I mean.**

**PM from Sugarette: But, I'm getting this strange feeling that something is really wrong…It's best if we don't do anything risky.**

The brunette was about to give a reply when "Sorry for intruding on your private conversation but I'd really like to finish you of now." The bear said, raising a clawed hand and ready to slice Misao to pieces.

"Misa-chan, watch out!"

=-=

Misao closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. When she didn't feel any metal painfully slicing her skin, she opened her eyes,

Seeing a concerned Kagami holding a plastic bag in the shape of a weeping rabbit. "Well, you sure got yourself beat up." The pigtailed girl said, making Misao drink one of the potions in the bag.

Misao chugged down the drink, seeing a number 50 pop up above her head. "Nice to see you to Hiiragi."

"Kagamin!!! A little help with the enemy here!!" Konata said, using a broadsword and a shield she bought to block the bear's attacks.

"Just a minute, Konata, I'm still healing Misao's injuries--" She then got a look at the brunette's health bar. "You've got -750 HP?!"

"Give me a break…It was around -200 when I got in this forest." Misao explained. She, with her HP now around -200, weakly stood up, took a kunai from her pocket and sliced the wires to free Ayano. "Sorry about that Ayano. You could've gotten in the way if I didn't tie you up."

Ayano smiled sheepishly. "It's aright. I'm sorry for being so pushy when I didn't even have a weapon…"

Misao then tapped her chin. "Speaking of weapons, Hiiragi, is there any thing in there that Ayano can use?"

"I think so." Kagami looked at the bag and rummaged for something that made Ayano's icon glow. She then tossed a blue staff at the girl. "But we don't have enough potions to heal you completely."

"Just let me heal on my own." Misao pointed to numbers above her head. "For some reason, my recovery rate is increasing. And you better help chibikko over there." Misao pointed to the blue-haired girl who was getting pummeled.

Kagami nodded and was about to sand up when a large vehicle made of leaves and twigs popped out of nowhere. "What the hell?"

Miyuki opened the door and went out of the vehicle. She saluted as she winked. "Sorry for the delay, Kusakabe-san, Minegishi-san."

The others backed away hen Miyuki's glasses regained the sinister glow. "It's time to get this party started."

"Sempai!!! I'm ready to fight!" Hiyori was the first to jump out, her red jacket flying like a cape as she jumped down. She almost tripped when she landed, but she was then ready with her sketchpad at hand in a second.

Konata backed away from the monster and let Kagami, who was holding an even larger broadsword, do the fighting. "Ah! Hiyorin!"

"Sem--"

The artist was then cut off by Miyuki's sudden command. "Tamura! Get your lazy butt down there and sketch a hoverboard! Izumi needs speed!

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Hiyori stiffened as she ran (for her life) to the blue-haired girl's side, a red hoverboard popping from her sketchpad.

Miyuki nodded as she then opened the book. "Martin, Minami, Kobayakawa! Get down here!"

"H-hai!" Patty squeaked as she did what she and the others did what they were told. Minami caught Yutaka as the red-haired girl jumped down.

"Minegishi! Grab the rim of paper in that plastic bag! Give it to Martin. Martin! You are a papermaster so I assume you know what to do." The pink-haired girl then turned to the two remaining freshmen. "Minami, grab your dagger and say your sword's name, it will unleash the blade. Kobayakawa, you are a beast master, so I suggest you use your bell to gather as much animal power as you can."

"Hai!" Yutaka said cheerfully, not minding the scary aura that her sempai was giving off. Minami followed the girl, after giving Miyuki a strange look.

Miyuki chuckled silently. She smirked. "Don't worry Minami. You can trust me as long as we're in this game."

Something then caught her eye. "Kusakabe! Get up on your feet and help the others! You won't level up unless you give more effort!" _This is good. Now all we need is a pretty little distraction._

=-=Balvine=-=

**PM from Konakona: Tsukasa, think 'map' and head towards the black and blue dots.**

"Umm…." _Map. _A picture of the forest appeared in front of Tsukasa, who was hovering a few feet above the ground, and when I say a few, I mean three or less. _I might fall if I fly too high…_

"Ah, so that must be Kusakabe-san and Minegishi-san." Tsukasa nodded. She then tapped her chin. _Now, what was the command for this broom again? Ah, __Move_.

The broom moved through the shrubs at a steady pace. _It's a little too slow…Hm…__Faster._

The broom accelerated, and Tsukasa could feel a gentle breeze as she got closer to the site. _OK! At this rate I can get __up__ there in no time!_

Tsukasa screamed as the broom flew like a rocket up the sky. Like a rocket, in terms of the smoke the broom was emitting and the speed it flew. _Ahhh!!!! __DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN! DOWN!!_

She screamed again as the broom followed her orders. Unfortunately, to the letter. In milliseconds the screaming purple-haired girl was an inch above the ground. And the fact that her broom was flying at high speed and going up and down didn't help in soothing her nerves.

=-=

Tsukasa screamed all the way until she hit something, hard. She fell on her behind, her head shaking. When she regained her senses, she heard a voice say. "Good distraction, Tsukasa! Just what we needed. I'll go in first."

She then saw a running Miyuki with a satisfied smirk on her face as she pulled out a gun and fired a really bright beam.

**-56 HP**

The bear, who Tsukasa had hit and damaged -**42 HP**, tumbled backwards. It rubbed its neck. "That hurt."

Miyuki's smirk grew wider. "Oh? Then how about this? Martin! Fire the paper arrows!"

Patty did as she was told and was surprised to see that all of them managed to dent the bear's metal skin.

**-48 HP**

The bear tapped its chin. "Not that muc--"

It was cut off by the cannonball from the cannon Hiyori drew.

"ALL RIGHT!!" Hiyori punched the air.

**-51 HP**

"Izumi now! Minami, ready!" Miyuki commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" Konata said as she sliced the bear's sunglasses and ears with her katana.

**-62 HP**

"You can call me this party's warrior princess." The blue-haired girl said as she held out a peace sign.

"_Ala griseo"_ Minami said as the sword disassembled itself and a new blade of light began to form. Minami's body began to glow white, and in a flash she was on the other side of the clearing.

**-69 HP**

The bear lost an arm and got a severely damaged leg in the process.

"All right! Now, Kagami! Point your arm at the bear and remove that arm guard now!" Miyuki barked, turning to the purple-haired girl.

"Wh-what?" Kagami said, taken aback.

"Do it. NOW." Miyuki glared at the other girl, who got spooked and immediately released the band

Making a big blast of flame escape her arm and singe the animal.

**-87 HP**

"Whoa." Konata said.

"Sweet." Hiyori whistled.

The embers had died, and a singed bear head was all that remained.

"Must be a monster drop…" Hiyori mumbled, and walked over to get the head. Miyuki's hand blocked her way. She looked at the other girl, who had a serious expression. "Wait."

And waited they did, for a few seconds. Mercury slid out from the bear's exposed wires, hardening and turning into body parts. The bear then stood up and brushed its shoulder. "I must admit, that hurt a lot. Impressive."

"I expected this…" Miyuki pushed up her glasses.

**PM from Haiphobe: follow my lead.**

"All right! Time for the finisher! Do it now!!" Miyuki shouted at full volume, but then, she grabbed her chest, and fell to her knees. "Gah…I think I've used up too much…"

Konata then got the idea. "Me too…"

Minami fell to her knees, panting. "_Ala Griseo _tired me out…"

Then, one by one, each of the girls acted out how tired they were, falling to their knees.

"Ouch! I'm too delicate to be a papermaster." Patty cried out, falling.

But, Ayano didn't get it, and so, the bear directed her attention to her. "I guess I have to finish the strongest off first. Bye-bye."

The bear charged towards Ayano, bearing his claws and teeth.

Misao, once again, blocked the attack with her own body.

Miyuki smirked. _Just as I planned._

**Critical! -579 HP**

Her body fell lifelessly to the floor. The bear pushed up its sunglasses and gave its version of a smirk. "One down. Oh wait, you're the one who I couldn't kill earlier, so a little more extra damage won't hurt."

"Mi-Misa-chan!!" Ayano said. She then prepared to chant a spell._ Takara-chan told me I was a healer, so I guess I'll cast this spell on Misa-chan! _"_Practe--"_

**PM from Haiphobe: Don't**

Ayano blinked. She looked at Miyuki, who was shaking her head.

**PM from Haiphobe: Wait and see.**

The bear then stopped hitting and kicking the girl once she had reached -1037 HP. Misao wasn't moving. The bear turned to the others and clapped his hands. "Now, who wants to be next?"

It looked at the girls. Kagami was shocked. Hiyori was staring with her mouth open. Patty looked horrified. Konata had one of her w-shaped grins and Miyuki was smirking.

The bear lifted Miyuki by the throat. "Cocky ones go to hell first."

The pink-haired girl only pushed up her glasses, which were glowing more sinister by the second. "I would, but my friend over there begs to differ. Kobayakawa, summon the dogs."

Yutaka snapped out of her state of awe, and then nodded. She rang the bell. _Summon:Wolf pack. _In an instant there were wolves holding down the bear, and one bit down on its arm, causing it to drop the pink-haired girl.

A series of **-21 HP's** popped out from above the bear's head.

Miyuki then said. "It's best if you turn around now."

The bear, stupidly enough, turned around, and shivered in shock and fright,

Seeing a Misao on all fours, growling. She was glowing red. Her eyes were crimson. Her teeth were sharper. Her hair grew more spiked. Three cuts on each side of her cheek had somehow gotten deeper. The cuts and bruises on her body minimized at the same speed as the numbers popping above her head.

In two seconds, Misao had a full health bar, and was not looking very happy.

She growled. The bear shook in fear and tried to break free, but the wolves' grip on him was tight, and there was nothing it could do.

Miyuki crossed her arms and whispered into its ear. "Who's dead now?"

"Y-you bitch."

Miyuki just smirked and nodded to Misao, who roared with anger and charged at him.

**Critical! -829 HP**

It broke into pieces like a fragile plate of China. The shards were letting out smoke. And in the remains of the bear, Misao lost the red aura and collapsed, with no HP or MP.

"MISA-CHAN!!" Ayano rushed to the girl's side, checking for a pulse or a heartbeat or anything to tell her if her friend was still with them.

"Don't worry, I believe Kusakabe-san is still alive." Miyuki put a hand on Ayano's shoulder, smiling. "She just needs a little rest."

**Bear cyborg defeated! EXP gained:**

**Konakona, Sniperiincho, Balvine, Haiphobe, Southeagle, Chibirisu, Barashoujo, Cosprei: 7800 EXP!**

**Sugarette: 7900 EXP!**

**Carnibuor: 8200 EXP!**

Yutaka grinned. "That's good! All of us leveled-up!" she said.

"Woot! Level 5!!" Patty cheered. "20 bonus points!!"

Konata grabbed Misao's arm as she pulled the unconscious girl up. "Lucky girl…got to level 7 before I did…"

She didn't notice that Kagami, who had her arm guard back on, had followed her and grabbed the other arm. "Aren't you a little over competitive?"

"Ah, hello Kagami." Konata said as they proceeded to Miyuki's vehicle. "Not really…It's just gamer's instinct."

Kagami opened the door that lead to the back of the vehicle, which looked like a tiny living room. They gently put the unconscious girl down on the sofa and went out, passing by Ayano. Kagami then grabbed Ayano's arm. "Didn't Miyuki tell you to let Misao heal naturally?"

"She did. I'm just going to sit there for a while." Ayano smiled. "I don't have much MP left, since I just finished healing everyone who got hit by the debris of Misa-chan's attack. So you have my word that I'm too weak to do another healing spell."

Kagami was about to say something when Konata pushed her out, leaving the orange-haired girl to continue with her business. "Konata! Why'd you do that?"

Konata closed her eyes as she sighed. "Won't you feel a little useless when you're unable to help the person who helped you?"

"You have a point…but what if she does it anyway and something goes wrong?" The pig-tailed girl said as they sat down beside Tsukasa, who was fumbling with her broom and mumbling "Where's the settings on this thing?"

"Then we'll just rely on the other Miyuki-san's strategy and fix it won't we?" The blue-haired girl said to Kagami before turning to the younger twin. "Tsukasa, there's no settings on the broom. Now, put it away before you blast off into space."

Tsukasa nodded, a scared expression on her face upon hearing Konata's remark.

"Excuse me, Izumi-san, but we need to get on the vehicle before Patricia-san leaves without us…" Miyuki said as she approached the girls, pointing to the shouting blond in the driver's seat. _And…there's something my other half once to tell you once we get to town…_

\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

Chatroom LS

--start--

Barashoujo: That fight was awesome. We were awesome. The sempais were awesome. Heck, the nine-tailed fox was AWESOME.

Cosprei: Hiyorin, we all now you liked the battle very much but stop over using the word awesome. And we don't even know if the demon Misao is holding is THE nine-tailed fox. But yeah, I have to agree! You liked Minami's move back there, don't you, Yutaka?

Chibirisu: Ummm…Yeah.

Cosprei: Anyway, tomorrow we'll be reaching the first town. We'd be reaching it sooner if Miyuki just let me use the turbo button…but she said she'll let me use it after she tells us about our skills…

Southealge: Is Kusakabe-sempai going to wake up the next chapter?

Barashoujo: Ah, worried about your track captain, eh? Am I sensing a little jealousy somewhere?

Chibirisu: …?

Cosprei: Hiyorin, I suggest you stop it if you don't want two people to gang up on you

Barashoujo: Eh? Who?

Cosprei: Minami and Konata.

Barashoujo: Ah! That gives me an idea! I might as well start drawing!

Cosprei: No, you can't!

Barashoujo: My hand's itching! Nothing can stop me now!

Cosprei: At least wait until the next chapter!

--Barashoujo,Cosprei has left the chatroom--

Southeagle:…

Southeagle: Yutaka, please introduce the next chapter. It seems Patty-san and Hiyori-san forgot all about it

Chibirisu: Right…Next chapter: Truffle Town-Tutorial…I hope I get this right!

--cut--


	4. Truffle Town Tutorial

Disclaimer/s:

-Lucky Star is not mine.

-Any anime/manga/video game/book that I will mention here do not belong to me.

-Fight Pan is a fictional game corporation that I made up and is not related to any gaming company.

4=a

\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

Stranded in a Twisted RPG

Chapter 4: Truffle Town-Tutorial

There were no words being exchanged ever since Sakuraba Satomi and Sakuraba Hikaru entered the room, both quickly took a seat and typed the necessary keywords to get them to the folder holding the game's data.

"It doesn't look like anything was deleted." Satomi said, turning to her cousin. "Not yet anyways…The enemy only started the hacking two hours ago, by my calculations."

"Yeah, but it seems they've deployed the monsters for us." Hikaru replied, looking over the files and codes. She then spotted something, a new folder. _What's this? _She clicked it and gaped at what she saw.

In the folder were files with her students' usernames. "S-Satomi…Did you put this here?"

Satomi turned to her cousin. "I haven't encoded anything for the past two days…" She walked over to Hikaru's monitor and saw what the other girl was gaping at.

The two Sakurabas looked at each other, fear in their hearts and the knowledge of what might actually be happening in their minds.

Satomi pulled on her collar. "Hey, you don't think…?"

Hikaru didn't reply as she ran out of the room, her cousin following suit after locking the door. Two words were in her mind right now, _impossible _and _students_.

She dashed through the corridors, pushing three employees out of her way and knocking Sei off her feet. The orange-haired teacher opened the door with so much force that she almost fell, and when she regained her balance she only saw ten seats, all with the VRE on the seat and the gloves on the armrests.

Her jaw dropped as her eyes widened. "It…it can't be."

=-=Carnibuor;Sugarette==

Ayano sat quietly as she watched Misao sleep peacefully. _Misa-chan's been through a lot today…I should let her rest._ Misao's MP bar was the first to start recovering. Unfortunately, slowly. Ayano winced when she saw that the numbers appearing from above Misao's head were all decimals, ranging from 0.01 to 0.7. The orange-haired girl resisted the urge to do a healing spell right then and there, the only reason that she didn't was because she might make the situation worse. She recalled Miyuki's words to her after the battle, when she was about to run to the brunette's side. 'Kusakabe's system is highly unstable right now. Any spell of any kind might cause a reaction that we would not like to see.'

She was pushing away a strand of hair that covered Misao's face when a person entered the room. "Tsukasa-san?"

"Hello, Minegishi-san. Yuki-chan said I should give this to you." Tsukasa said, holding a few rolls of bandages. "She said you should put it around Kusakabe-san's stomach."

"Ah, thank you." Ayano smiled as she took the bandages.

The purple-haired girl smiled in return. "We'll be having a meeting in the main room. Yuki-chan said you can follow once Kusakabe-san is awake."

Ayano nodded as she watched Tsukasa exit the room. She then pulled her chair closer to the couch Misao was lying on. She opened a roll and got a good look at it. It wasn't ordinary bandages. _There are symbols here I can't even understand…Wait, there's a letter. _

_Minegishi,_

_Kusakabe's stomach is extra sensitive right now; this is probably one of the reasons why she's in hell of a lot of pain. Luckily, Izumi purchased some 'special' bandages when she was going through job selection. These bandages have magic properties that will keep the pain in check._

_Have fun._

The orange-haired girl folded the piece of paper, blushing at the last sentence. She took a deep breath. _I might as well do this. Misa-chan did take all those blows for me…this is the least I could do…It won't change anything, anyways._

She gulped, her hands inches from Misao's zipper. She shook her head. _Wait, why am I getting flustered? It's not like I haven't seen Misa-chan in nothing but her undergarments before… _

Ayano then resumed her work, unzipping the jacket and lifting up the black shirt underneath. She gasped at what she saw.

The now exposed skin was practically glowing red, covered in burns with colors ranging from pinkish to violet. Not only that, there were also lines of black writing…swirling around Misao's stomach.

The orange-haired girl only looked at the seal with utter shock, watching some sort of smoke rise up. "What…is this?"

=-=Konakona;Sniperiincho;Balvine;Haiphobe;Chibirisu;Southeagle;Barashoujo;Cosprei=-=

"Martin, this will do for now." Miyuki said, signaling the blonde at the wheel to stop. Patty nodded and stopped the engine. Miyuki checked the map, they were on the borders of a place called _Truffle Town_. "The meeting starts now."

"What is it you want to tell us about, Yuki-chan?" Tsukasa asked, turning her gaze from the vehicle's window to the pink-haired girl.

She crossed her arms. "Two very important things. We'll start with this." Miyuki then took out the book she had been reading ever since she had arrived here. "I got this from my job selection. It's got about everything we need to know about this place, including ourselves. There's a section here that tells you all about your current job, as well as all the possible skills you can attain."

"Ah, it's sort of like a job Pokedex, isn't it, other Miyuki-san?" Konata said, adjusting one of the plates on her shoulder.

"Precisely."

"Does it show evolutions then?" The blue-haired girl said excitedly, getting a pat on the shoulder.

"Let her continue! And don't just throw out random references from out of the blue!" Kagami scolded.

"Hai, Kagami-sama…" Konata smiled, saluting.

"Ahem." The pink-haired girl coughed, earning an apology from the blue-haired girl and the now blushing purple-haired girl. "Anyways, Izumi, it says here that you are a 'Bioweapon', a Warrior type job like Kusakabe's. You can figure that one out for yourself, right?"

Konata nodded, knowing exactly what it was. "Yes ma'am."

Patty and Hiyori then went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Nice, senpai!"

"Sweet!" The blond gave her a thumbs-up.

The pink-haired girl then turned to Kagami. "Now, as for you, you're familiar with the symbol on your armband, right?"

The pig-tailed girl hesitantly nodded. "Yeah…I guess…but that show ended a long time ago…"

Miyuki snickered. "Oh, I'm pretty sure _Fl4me of Recc4_ still has a lot of fans."

Kagami sighed. "…so I'm a flame-caster huh?"

The pink-haired girl pushed up her glasses. "Yeah, a flame-caster of the Supernatural type jobs. It also says here that you have animals inside of you too. We'll have to take a look at that after you get to level 15."

"Animals…?" Kagami said, unable to believe what she just heard. "Not just one?"

"Well, your job is based of Recca Hanabishi's powers, correct?"

"I…" Kagami gave a sigh of defeat. "I guess you're right."

"No worries." Miyuki smirked. "Chances are…they won't be as troublesome as what Kusakabe got."

"Yuki-chan!! What kind of job did I get?" Tsukasa piped in, causing Miyuki to turn around, leaving Kagami to wonder. "I'm wizard right?"

The pink-haired girl smirked. "You, my balsamic vinegar-addicted friend, are a witch of the Magi type of jobs. You're a girl after all." Miyuki then gestured to the clothes Tsukasa was currently wearing. "Hmm…Nagato's style huh…"

"I heard someone say Nagato." Both Konata and Patty instantly appeared from behind Tsukasa and Miyuki, making the former jump and the latter push up her glasses.

"Ah, that? Well, as you can see, Tsukasa's wardrobe is modeled after Yuki Nagato's witch outfit.

"Oh great!" Patty grinned, grabbing both Konata's and Tsukasa's arm. "Now all we need is an Itsuki and a Kyon!"

Before the blond could drag off the two girls in her grasp, Miyuki grabbed her white jacket. "Martin, wait a moment."

"You already told me I was a paper master a while ago!" Patty said.

"Yes, but I didn't mention that you are a Special Ability Type, along with Kobayakawa."

"What the? _Gakuen 4lice_…?"

Miyuki pushed up her glasses. "Apparently, it's a category for all the other jobs that don't fit in with the other job categories…"

"Precisely! Just like Gakuen Alice!"

"You realize that I have no idea what you are taking about? Nor do I have any interest of knowing?" Miyuki gave Patty a cold look, making the blond take a step back.

"Y-yes…"

"Good." The pink-haired girl nodded as she then clapped her hands. "All right everyone. I assume that you were given some sort of weapon during job selection. The book says you should start out with those, since they were designed to help you in leveling up."

"Miyuki-san! I have a question!" Yutaka raised her hand, smiling.

"What?"

Yutaka pulled out a white flute and a bell from her belt. "Well, you said I should use this bell for the battle against Mr. Bear. Does that mean that I need to be at a higher level to use this flute?"

"Yes. But since you've leveled up, why don't you try it? Special Ability equipments can last for a long time, you know." Miyuki then stepped forward.

"OK!" Yutaka said. _Equip: Beastmaster's Flute._

**EQUIP INVALID. **

Yutaka's eyes widened. "Why? I'm level 5!"

"Check the flute's level requirement." Minami, who was beside Yutaka the whole time, suggested.

_Info: Beastmaster's Flute._

**BEASTMASTER'S FLUTE**

**-a basic summoning tool for every novice Beastmaster. **

**Level requirement: Level 6**

"…I'm short one level…" Yutaka said, utterly disappointed.

"Shall we execute a PersonvsPerson battle to level you up?" Miyuki smirked.

Yutaka was about to say something when Minami stepped forward, getting in between the two. Miyuki smirked as she saw Minami's warning glare. "Oh? You want to try me first, Minami-_chan_?"

Minami stood her ground, not moving.

The pink-haired girl only chuckled as she stepped back. "Fine. Just try equipping it for now, Kobayakawa. You'll get a chance to use it." Miyuki stepped forward again, whispering to the green-haired girl, who grew stiff. "I think you're trying too hard to be like your _Setsuna-sensei._ I said you could trust me as long as we're in this game, Minami. As of now, all of you are in my clutches. If you really can't trust me, shouldn't you be breathing on the other side by now? And, instead of worrying about me, why don't you worry about your demon side, half-demon?"

The two of them left it at that. One reason would be that they both know that the other won't do anything (_for now_, thought Minami). Another reason would be that the other girls were screaming because there were three girls doing something they shouldn't. Miyuki sighed. "Tamura? Just why the hell are you summoning pornography in my car?"

"Aaaah!!!!! I'm sorry!!!! I'm sorry!!!" Hiyori said with a hand on her profusely bleeding nose as she tore up her new sketch, which resembled the scene with Miyuki, Minami and Yutaka earlier, the only difference would be the girls (two of them sandwiching the girl in the middle) were in short skirts and loose tops, and it was _way _windier than usual. Once the sight disappeared from the team's eyes, and a certain artist got a towel from a certain blonde to stop the bleeding, they sighed and Hiyori rubbed her head sheepishly, apologizing with a clogged nose. "Ahehe…Sorry…I forgot I could do that…and…I couldn't resist…it's my instinct."

A frowning Miyuki then approached her and grabbed the artist by her shirt. "And your instinct is so out of whack that it should've told you to wait for my instructions!"

Hiyori gulped.

Konata then put a hand on the pink-haired girl's shoulder. "Now, other Miyuki-san, it's just Hiyorin's nature to be like that. She'll learn eventually."

Miyuki sighed again. "I suppose. Anyways, it was my fault as well. I should've explained to her about this first." The pink-haired girl then took Hiyori's hands and removed her gloves…

…revealing one, perfectly normal left hand…

…and one, perfectly mechanical right hand.

"OH MOTHER O--FATHER OF YAOI…I'VE LOST MY HAND!!!" Hiyori said, her left hand gripping her right. She then took off her jacket, revealing a mechanical arm starting from her shoulder. She gaped. "Correction. I'VE LOST MY ARM!!!"

"That's the reason why you could turn your drawings into real figures. That mechanical arm somehow converts your sketches into the real thing." Miyuki explained. "It's said here that you are a Summon Alchemist, a type of summon artist. Hence, you are a technical type along with me."

Hiyori nodded plainly and slowly walked over to the nearby seat without a word. The three freshmen among the group, understanding the situation their friend was in, nodded and approached the girl.

"Hiyorin…" Patty poked the other girl's cheek. Hiyori didn't react. Patty pouted. _Oh great, yet another trance I can't break today. Might as well try until it breaks. _"Hey, at least it wasn't replaced by a wooden leg--er…arm, right?"

The artist flexed her fingers. She then mumbled as she stared at her hand. "The drawing hand is an artist's most valuable weapon…"

"Wait…you do know that, technically, you still have your drawing hand, right?" Patty asked, not really expecting an answer as she wiped some dried blood off Hiyori's cheek.

"Yeah."

"T-tamura-san? I'm sorry you lost your arm but…how does it feel?" Yutaka said uneasily.

Hiyori chuckled plainly. "How does it feel eh?"

Minami gave Patty and Yutaka a look saying: _Did our friend lose more that her arm? Something like…Oh, I don't know…her mind?_

Patty pouted. _Silly, she didn't lose her mind!_

"Heh…you want to know how I feel?" Hiyori said, still chuckling. "You want to know how I really feel?"

Patty and Yutaka then looked at Minami. _Well, I don't think she did…yet._

Hiyori looked up, grinning. "IT FEELS GREAT!!! HECK OF A LOT COOLER THAN MY OLD ARM!"

The three of them sighed. "As expected…"

The artist then stopped grinning. "But that means I can't draw anything without it turning real…"

"Then you'll just have to practice with your left arm." Miyuki said as she approached the dark-haired girl. She gave Hiyori's gloves back and went to the opposite side of the room, sitting down and closing her eyes._ As for now, we'll have to wait for Kusakabe to wake up. I guess I'll leave this to you. _

Miyuki opened her eyes, and those same eyes widened to find that she was sitting down while her friends were chatting to themselves.

=-=

Satomi was panting by the time she caught up with her cousin, who dashed out again. She groaned, but stopped herself when their suspicions were confirmed to be true. Reluctantly, she dashed out again, following Hikaru to the storeroom. _She's probably looking for_ _that_.

The head of Fight Pan followed the teacher into the room, watching as Hikaru practically tug one of the file cabinet's drawers. "You really think that will work?"

"Of course it will. It did when they used it last time." The orange-haired teacher said, her fingers running through the old folders.

"But we've been hacked."

"True, but it seems that they've only disabled our ability to alter the current data."

"…what?" Satomi's eyes widened, staring at Hikaru's back.

"You said that they started hacking two hours ago, right?"

"Yeah."

"I finished putting in the quest items 45 minutes ago. Aha!" Hikaru pulled out a folder, yellowed with age. "So that means, we may not be able to change the current data, but we can put in new ones."

"Ah…" Satomi nodded, tapping her chin. "So how will _that_ help?"

"Communication." Hikaru said, walking past the file cabinet and into the stacks of boxes that have everything from computer parts to meters of wire. "Where did you put _it_?"

Satomi's eyes widened. "Use that thing again? Seriously?"

Hikaru smirked. "It worked before didn't it?"

The dark-haired scientist frowned. "But wouldn't that mean endangering more people?"

"Not really." Hikaru replied as she gave the folder to Satomi and started looking into the contents of one box. "There were other files in the database as well, the enemy probably added it in. And most probably, the girls will need reinforcements when they encounter them."

"Reinforcements?" Satomi raised an eyebrow. "You have someone in mind?"

Hikaru nodded as she tossed a small box, which landed with a familiar cling. "Oh, shoot!" She scrambled after it, opening the top to see if anything was damaged. She sighed. "Well, we've got the heart. All we need is the body."

Satomi sighed, knowing there was no changing Hikaru's mind now. "I think it's over there."

=-=…=-=

_She was walking through a dark corridor. The only sounds she could hear were her footsteps. The only things she could see were the strange walls that surrounded her left and her right, as well as a few centimeters of the path in front of her._

_She continued as the corridor gave way to a room almost ten times it size, and stopped when she sees some metal bars. In front of her was a piece of paper, with a familiar circle containing kanji of twelve different animals._

_She feels a warm breeze coming from above her. She steps back…and looks up._

=-=Carnibuor;Sugarette=-=

_Okay…almost done. _Ayano thought to herself as she was wrapping yet another layer of the bandages to Misao's stomach, somehow managing to relax while sitting on her friend's legs, where she winded up sitting on since Misao kept moving. She was about to fasten them together when she felt the other girl squirm again. "Misa-chan?"

Misao moved a little, her face now forming a frown. Ayano tilted her head. _Is there something wrong?_

The orange-haired girl saw the brunette moved again, and she leaned in to get a clue on what might be going on.

Ayano was about to go back to bandaging the other girl's stomach when Misao yelled while she (partially) sat up.

"Minegishi-san, Kona-chan and the others are asking if you're--" Tsukasa said as she opened the door…

…freezing at the sight before her: Ayano straddling Misao, who was barely dressed. The tips of their noses as well as their foreheads touching as their eyes were locked with each other. Ayano's hands, which were fastening Misao's bandages, now look like they were undoing them.

Tsukasa felt her cheeks burn as her hands rose up as if to defend herself. "G-Ga…ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga…"

"Imouto?!" "Tsu-Tsukasa-san?"

"S-s-sorry for disturbing you!!!" Tsukasa immediately closed the door, and, after a few seconds, ran to the front of the car yelling "ONEEECHAN!!!!!"

=-=

"The hell?" Misao said, staring at the door.

"We'll have to apologize to Tsukasa-san later…" Ayano mumbled. Then, both girls turned to each other and Ayano finally noticed how close their faces were, she blushed and practically jumped off the other girl.

"What for? She was the one who walked in on us." Misao, on the other hand, paid no heed to her friend's actions, which now involved turning into something that resembles a tomato. Misao scratched her head. "What were we doing anyway? Moreover, why am I still in the game?"

Ayano was about to answer when Miyuki opened the door, wearing a smirk. "Glad to see you awake."

"How'd you know I was awake?"

Miyuki rolled her eyes. "As if a Tsukasa running for her life looking mentally-scarred wasn't something that actually signaled: what the hell? There's something strange happening in there!" she snickered. "I was expecting that Minegishi was doing something wrong in here but I guess not."

Ayano blushed and Misao only raised an eyebrow.

The pink-haired girl then frowned. "Oh, fix those bandages and put down your shirt. You look like you were harassed five minutes ago."

"Ah." Misao said as she looked down. She wrapped the last part around her body and found that it stopped at her back. Luckily, Ayano stepped forward and fastened it to the rest of the bandages. The brunette grinned as she put down her shirt. "Thanks Ayano."

The orange-haired girl returned her friend's affection with a smile of her own, causing the third girl to frown and cough. "As much as I'd like to improve this development in your relationship, we have far more important things to do. Kusakabe, Minegishi, follow me into the main room."

Both girls nodded and followed the pink-haired girl. As they were walking, Miyuki adjusted her glasses and said. "Kusakabe, you are a ninja, Power-type job."

"Pft, figures." Misao rolled her eyes as she put her hands behind her head. "Like a mechanic can actually take hold of a monster in their stomach."

"You insulting my job?" The pink-haired girl turned around, glaring at the brunette.

"N-no, Ma'am." Misao said, stiffening.

"Good." Miyuki turned back. "Minegishi, you are a healer, a Magi-type like Tsukasa."

Ayano nodded as Miyuki led them to the main room, where Konata and the others were waiting. Misao scratched her head. "What the hell?"

Konata, who was trying to dodge one of the fireballs Kagami's arm was now spewing out, saw the three. "Ah, Misakichi, good to see you're--" she jumps to dodge another one. "alive and kicking."

"What happened?" Miyuki asked in an angry tone.

"S-somebody bumped into Oneechan's armband and her arm st-started going craz--IA!!" Tsukasa said, hiding behind a chair as a fireball nearly hit her head.

"H-hey, it wasn't my fault!" Hiyori said, after receiving an automatic glare from the pink-haired girl.

"Geez. Must I do all the thinking around here?" Miyuki said, frowning. "Martin, go get some of Izumi's stuff in the storeroom. Tamura, draw some sort of bubble that'll kee-"

"Hey, shouldn't you just do this?" Misao said, walking up to the purple-haired girl, dodging the little fireballs that went her way. She reached her target, grabbed her arm and shut the loose armband tightly.

Everyone gaped.

"That…that'll work." Miyuki said simply, hiding the fact that she overlooked that plan.

"Th-thanks." Kagami stuttered, still surprised from the sudden burst of power.

"No need. Simplemindedness is my thing." Misao grinned. She then wore a curious expression. "Wait, did I just insult myself?"

"Anyways…" The pink-haired girl in the group coughed, stopping the conversation before it got any more random. "Now that we're all here, I have a question to ask all of you."

She then wore a serious expression and everyone in the room felt the mood get heavier.

"Who's hungry?"

"…"

"….What?" Kagami said, she was expecting some sort of technical question that was related to their team.

Misao, Konata and Hiyori, on the other hand, stifled laughs. "Pft…you ask us that with a serious face…?"

"Idiots. I am serious." The pink-haired girl glared at the three. "Now, who's hungry? Or who gets the feeling they want to go to the bathroom? Is anyone dizzy?"

Yutaka raised her hand, causing Minami to support her by holding onto the smaller girl's shoulders. "I am feeling a little woozy…"

"Erm…now that you mentioned it…where's the comfort room…?" Tsukasa asked, looking embarrassed.

Kagami then felt someone was watching her. She looked around and saw Konata looking right at her. "Wh-what?"

Konata grinned her usual w-shaped smile. "Admit it."

"Admit what?" The purple-haired girl asked, her face getting warmer.

"C'mon Kagamin." Konata grinned. "Say it…"

"I am not going to--"

-GROWL-

Everyone looked at Kagami, who blushed and raised her hand. "S-sorry."

Hiyori shrugged. "Can't be helped. Stomachs growl when they're empty."

"Precisely." Miyuki nodded. "That's the strange part. Izumi, when you play online games, do you experience these sorts of things?"

Konata shook her head. "Of course not. The characters in the games are made of data."

"Correct. Can anyone guess what that means?"

Patty tapped her chin. "Our bodies here aren't made up of numbers?"

"Good." Miyuki said, her expression getting more serious by the second. "Now, can anyone put two and two together and figure out what's happening?"

Silence surrounded the girls as they thought. A few of them got it and kept quiet due to shock. Minami was the first to speak up, all eyes trained on her as she did. "We…are really in this game, aren't we?"

"Yes."

"B-but...couldn't this be a new feature or something?" Misao asked, hoping that her claim was true. "I mean…there is a lot of stuff here that we don't usually see in normal games, right?"

"True, but there is one problem." Miyuki took in a deep breath. "Recall the game demonstration. Did anyone see any blemishes on Yutaka's body when she was being attacked by the blob?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Then how do you explain this?" Miyuki asked, grabbing Misao's arm, which had a deep gash. She then tilted her neck, showing claw marks. "Or this? Or all the other injuries we got during the fight? Check Kusakabe's body and you'll find evidence, right Minegishi?"

Ayano grimly nodded.

"But, I don't get it…" Hiyori scratched her head. "If our bodies are over here…then that means--"

"Yes: no VRE and gloves, no link to the human world." The pink-haired girl said. "We're stuck." She then spoke before anyone could counter. "If anyone has their doubts, try logging out."

More than five of the girls thought _Escape_ at the same time. Nothing happened.

"…"

"We…really are stuck…" Yutaka said, her voice filled with fright. Minami, seeing that the smaller girl was scared, instinctively went closer to the girl, her hand touching the back of Yutaka's hand. "We'll get out of this."

Yutaka blushed. "Thanks, Minami-chan."

"Another point to take note of: Has anybody heard from Sei yet? She was supposed to contact us after job selection." Miyuki added. "My guess is either there is a virus or glitch in the system or some outside force is messing with the game. Take note that the bear didn't really fit in with this game's graphics."

Another silence engulfed them as they scanned each other's reaction. Ayano seemed to be puzzled. Tsukasa looked like she was about to throw a panic fit, but immediately calmed down when her sister approached her. Kagami looked a little worried and was being watched by a Konata with a blank expression. Hiyori, surprisingly had a serious expression instead of having the usual grin that indicated that she was off to some fantasy world. Patty was worried because the said doujin artist was not in some fantasy world. Yutaka was standing close to Minami as she sought comfort from the green-haired girl, who was deep in thought. Miyuki had an unreadable expression, her glasses glowing strangely as it was hit by the afternoon sunlight.

The last girl, on the other hand, only raised an eyebrow at their actions.

"Well then, let's not stand around like idiots and actually try to find a way out of this digital jam." Misao said simply, earning surprised looks from the other girls. She only grinned. "Besides, it's not the end of the world when we're just stuck here, right?."

Kagami gave her a glare. "Misao, as much as I'd like to agree with you, you don't understand how serious this 'digital jam' is. We're stuck in some sort of digital world, with no contact whatsoever to friends and family, with an unknown enemy playing with the system. Do you really THINK that it would be that easy? "

Misao then tapped her chin. "Well, there has got to be some sort of way out, right? When you make a hole in a bag, can't you slip stuff in and take stuff out through that hole? If we find where the robot bear came from, we can find a clue on how to get out."

"Misao, in games, that's not how it works."

"Fine." The brunette sighed. "Chibikko! When the game mods find out that something's wrong with their game, do they fix it?"

"Of course." Konata nodded. "What's your point, Misakichi?"

"Well don't you think that Sakuraba-sensei and the others would just stand there and let their precious creation break? Plus, Sakuraba-sensei is our teacher. She isn't the type who would abandon her students." Misao explained, she then grinned. "Besides, don't you think she might get scared when our parents complain about us being stuck in here?"

"I guess you're right."

"Now then, why don't we make most of the time here and keep playing?" The brunette then punched her fist as she winked. "And if we do encounter that bear's friends, we'll just have to _persuade _them to tell us the way out!"

Minami spoke up. "Kusakabe-senpai is right. There are certainly enemies here, the sooner we find them, the sooner we will be able to get a clue on what is really going on, and most possibly a way on how to get out."

"But those guys are strong. It took us a lot of effort just to bring down one, right?" Tsukasa said, fear in her voice. "And…if we really are in this game…what'll happen when we die…?"

"Then we'll just have to get stronger and stronger until each of us can bring down a hundred at once, won't we?" Misao said, determination in her eyes. "Imouto, I don't intend to find out what will happen when I die. And neither should you, or anyone else in this room."

Hiyori stood up, clapping. Patty followed suit, wiping a tear from her eye. "Now that's what I call a Jinchuuriki(dude with a demon sealed inside him)!"

"Not only that, she seems to be the reincarnate of N4ruto-sama himself!" Hiyori cheered. "Count us in, senpai!"

Ayano then stepped next to Misao. "And if there is a chance that any one of us is in danger, we'll support her." She cast a smile at Misao before facing the group. "That is what friends are for, right?"

Misao grinned. She then looked at Minami. "So, Minami, how about it? It'll be just like track practice, only with monsters and swords and the risk of not returning."

Minami exchanged glances with Yutaka before nodding. "Count us in as well, senpai."

The brunette then turned to her other classmates. "How about you Chibikko? Hiiragi?"

"I-I'm in Kusakabe-san!" Tsukasa stuttered, still in awe about what Misao said earlier.

"Call me this team's Bioweapon, Misakichi." Konata said, holding out a peace sign as she smiled.

All heads turned to a certain purple-haired girl and waited quietly. Kagami, noticing the attention, got flustered. "F-fine. I can't leave you and Konata to have your way; you might do something extremely stupid."

"All right!" Misao punched the air. "Joy-killer, check."

"Hey!" Kagami frowned, making Misao grin wider.

"How about you, other Miyuki-san?" Konata asked the girl who has been awfully silent. "Is this strategy good enough?"

"…eh?" Miyuki looked up, giving off her normal aura of friendliness and intelligence. She pushed up her glasses. "I-I guess…Count me in as always, Izumi-san."

"Good." Konata nodded. "Now then, how about we get some rest here and explore the town tomorrow?"

Everybody nodded when they heard someone's stomach growl very loudly.

"I forgot someone's still hungry." Konata snickered, making Kagami blush harder. She then remembered something. "Oh, right! We forgot about dinner!"

"Tsukasa-san and I can cook the food, Izumi-san." Ayano volunteered. "Takara-san, where's the kitchen?"

"I think it's the second door to the right…" Miyuki looked up, trying to recall.

"I bought some food together with some cooking equipment." Konata reminded them. "Misakichi and I will get them for you."

"Thanks, Kona-chan!" Tsukasa smiled as she and Ayano went to the kitchen. Yutaka ran after them. "Wait, I want to help!"

And the rest of the girls prepared the sleeping bags, and compromised on who gets to sleep where. But, despite what specific task they were doing, each of them felt a part of the group: They were all in this together.

=-=

Hikaru put down the big, old box on the testing room floor. Satomi followed suit, putting two more boxes that were half the size of the first box. They emptied its contents, and organized them by their looks and function.

"Do you remember how they put this thing together?" Satomi asked. "We were kids when we first tried it out."

"No. But I know what it looks like and how it should act to tell if it's working properly." Hikaru then got up and grabbed the nearby folder. "Dad's notes should help."

The orange-haired teacher then pushed up her glasses. "Satomi, get Sei to monitor the database to see if the hackers are still tweaking our system. After that, get back here and help me install this thing."

\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

Chatroom LS

--start--

Haiphobe: Now, Tamura, what have we learned this chapter?

Barashoujo: …

Haiphobe: Well?

Barashoujo: Never do anything with my powers unless I have the orders from Miyuki-san.

Haiphobe: That's Miyuki-sama to you.

Barashoujo: Yes Ma'am.

Carnibuor: Hey guys! I'm alive again!!

Haiphobe: Yes, we can see that. How are you feeling?

Carnibuor: Fine, I guess. The bandages chibikko brought were a big help.

Barashoujo: Ooh…did anything happen between you and Minegishi-senpai at the back of the car? Tsukasa-senpai looked really traumatized after she checked on you two.

Haiphobe: TAMURA

Barashoujo: Ah! Sorry! Nevermind!!

Carnibuor: …?

Haiphobe: Don't ask. Just don't.

Carnibuor: All right. I won't ask you then!

--Carnibuor has left the chatroom--

Haiphobe: …

Barashoujo: Kusakabe-senpai's quite the smart-aleck, ain't she?

Hiaphobe: Shut up. This is your fault.

--Carnibuor;Sugarette have entered the chatroom--

Carnibuor: Oh…so that's why this story's rated T…

Haiphobe:…Minegishi told you?

Carnibuor: No. Chibikko did. I saw Ayano when I was on my way back.

Sugarette: Sorry, I forgot I was supposed to be here as well.

Barashoujo: No worries, senpai. It's cool.

Haiphobe: Kusakabe, aren't you forgetting something?

Carnibuor: Oh, right. Since Chibikko isn't here I'll have to serve as the _Spoiler for the Day_(tm). The author sent for me before this little chat session and told me to tell you guys (I mean the readers, heck yeah I mean YOU) that there's a new poll (access it from the profile page). The author needs a lot of feedback to improve the writing skills, so don't hesitate in telling the robot what the heck is going on in your heads. Also, the little bucket of bolts also told me that we (as in us, the girls in the game, who else?) are actually going to go in Truffle Town…and let's just say we meet and hear some familiar faces.

Barashoujo: Wait, bucket of bolts? The author-sama that appeared to me looked like a radioactive ermine…

Sugarette: Mine was an old man wearing cat ears.

Haiphobe: A hundred foot tall demon with sixty horns.

Carnibuor: Well…that was random. Anyways, Ayano! The title please?

Sugarette: Next on SITRPG: Truffle Town-Trial Run

Barashoujo: Wait for it!

--cut--


End file.
